GUWAHATI: Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai has been appointed the 52nd Chief Justice of India (CJI) and will assume office on May 14, 2025, succeeding Justice Sanjiv Khanna. The appointment was approved by President Droupadi Murmu and announced via a notification from the Ministry of Law and Justice on April 29.
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The notification read, “In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, Judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from 14th May, 2025.”
Justice Gavai’s elevation comes in accordance with clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India. His name was recommended by outgoing CJI Justice Sanjiv Khanna on April 16, 2025. Currently the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court after Justice Khanna, Justice Gavai is expected to serve a tenure of just over six months, retiring on November 23, 2025 upon turning 65.
Born on November 24, 1960 in Amravati, Maharashtra, Justice Gavai began his legal career in 1985. He served as a government pleader and public prosecutor at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court. He was appointed a judge of the Bombay High Court in 2003 and became a permanent judge in 2005. Justice Gavai was elevated to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019.
Justice Gavai will be the second Chief Justice of India from a Scheduled Caste background, after Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, who retired as CJI in 2010.