Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna (BR) Gavai is all set to assume office as the 52nd Chief Justice of India on May 14. CJI Sanjiv Khanna has officially recommended Justice BR Gavai as his successor, and forwarded the proposal to the Law Ministry as part of the formal appointment process. Gavai will succeed CJI Khanna, who will retire on May 13. He will be administered the oath of office by President Droupadi Murmu. Currently, Justice Gavai is the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court after CJI Khanna. Notably, his (BR Gavai) tenure as CJI will span approximately six months, and conclude with his retirement in 23 November 2025.
Who Is BR Gavai?
As Justice BR Gavai is all set to assume the office next month, here are few things that you must know about 52nd Chief Justice of India.
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Bhushan Ramkrishna (BR) Gavai was born on 24th November, 1960 at Amravati in Maharashtra.
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He joined Bar on 16th March, 1985 and worked with late Bar. Raja S. Bhonsale, former Advocate General and Judge of High Court, till 1987.
Justice Gavai practised independently at Bombay High Court from 1987 to 1990. While after 1990, he practised mainly before Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court.
Notably, he practised in Constitutional Law and Administrative Law.
Gavai was Standing Counsel for Municipal Corporation of Nagpur, Amravati Municipal Corporation and Amravati University. Apart from this, he appeared regularly for various autonomous bodies and Corporations like SICOM, DCVL etc. and various Municipal Councils in Vidarbha region.
Over his career, he was appointed as Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor in the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Nagpur Bench, from August, 1992 to July, 1993.
Gavai was appointed as Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor for Nagpur Bench on 17th January, 2000. He was later elevated as Additional Judge of the High Court on 14th November, 2003.
He then became a permanent Judge of the Bombay High Court on 12th November, 2005. Gavai oresided over Benches having all types of assignments at the Principal Seat at Mumbai as well as Benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad and Panaji.
Gavai got elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 24th May, 2019. He has been part of several Constitution benches in the Supreme Court which delivered landmark verdicts. Gavai was part of a five-judge Constitution bench, which unanimously upheld the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 bestowing special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in December 2023.
He was part of the five-judge Constitution bench that annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding and also part of the verdict that approved Centre's 2016 decision to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination currency notes.