BR Gavai to Succeed Sanjiv Khanna as Chief Justice of India on May 14

Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai will be sworn in as the 50th Chief Justice of India on May 14, following the retirement of the incumbent Chief Justice, Sanjiv Khanna, on May 13.

According to practice, the retiring Chief Justice has recommended the name of Justice Gavai to the Union Law Ministry as his successor. The ministry had earlier requested this recommendation for the new Chief Justice.

Chief Justice Gavai's term of Chief Justice will be relatively brief, lasting six months, since he is to retire in November. He will become the second Dalit to serve in this high-profile position, following Justice KG Balakrishnan, who was made Chief Justice of India in 2007.

Hailing from Amravati in Maharashtra, Justice Gavai began his career as a lawyer in 1985, initially practicing with former Judge and Advocate General, Bombay High Court, barrister Raja Bhonsale. From 1987 to 1990, he practiced independently at the Bombay High Court, later specializing in Constitutional and administrative law before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court. He occupied various government positions, including Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor of Nagpur bench in 1992 and Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor in the year 2000. His judicial life comprised him being appointed an Additional Judge of the High Court in 2003 and a permanent judge in 2005. He was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2019.

While serving as a Supreme Court judge, Justice Gavai has written several landmark judgments like the Centre's 2016 demonetisation decision and the verdict that held the electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional.