GUWAHATI: Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna has recommended Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, as his successor. Justice Gavai, currently the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, is scheduled to take oath as the 52nd CJI on May 14, according to reports. CJI Khanna is due to retire on May 13. President Droupadi Murmu will administer the oath of office.
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Justice Khanna assumed office in November 2024, following the retirement of Justice DY Chandrachud upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65.
Justice Gavai was born on November 24, 1960 in Amravati and began practising law on March 16, 1985. He was appointed a permanent judge of the Bombay High Court on November 12, 2005. Since his elevation to the Supreme Court, he has served on several Constitution Benches and contributed to a series of significant rulings.
He was part of the five-judge bench that unanimously upheld the Union Government’s 2019 move to abrogate Article 370, ending the special status of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir. Justice Gavai also played a critical role in the bench that declared the electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional, striking down the mechanism for anonymous political funding.
In another high-profile case, he was among the judges in a 4:1 majority verdict that upheld the 2016 demonetisation of ₹1,000 and ₹500 banknotes. Justice Gavai served on a seven-judge Constitution Bench that ruled, by a 6:1 majority, that states have the constitutional power to create sub-categories within Scheduled Castes to extend focused reservation benefits to the most disadvantaged groups.