The 52nd Chief Justice of India and the country’s first Buddhist Judge Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai has written about 300 decisions playing an important role in shaping the judicial scenario, including several historical decisions against constitutional issues and freedom and “bulldozer justice” of the executive and the executive.
Justice Gavai is the second Dalit Chief Justice to lead the Indian judiciary after Justice KG Balakrishnan.
Justice Gawai (64) was sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of the country on Wednesday. He was sworn in by President Draupadi Murmu during a brief ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Republic Mandap. He replaced Justice Sanjeev Khanna who retired on Tuesday when he was 65 years of age.
Born on 24 November 1960 in Amravati, Maharashtra, Justice Gawai was promoted as a judge of the Supreme Court on 24 May 2019. His tenure will be of more than six months and he will hold office till 23 November.
Justice Gawai, who rises from a simple background to the highest judicial post of the country, belongs to a village in Amravati district of Maharashtra. His father RS Gawai founded the ‘Republican Party of India’ (Gawai).
Justice Gawai, who was promoted on 24 May 2019 as a judge of the Supreme Court, was part of the Constitution Bench, who pronounced decisions on several important matters, including Article 370, Election Bond and Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 note, including invalid.
A bench led by Justice Gawai had prohibited the Allahabad High Court’s remarks that catching a woman’s breasts and pulling the pulse of her pajamas would not be considered as an attempt to rape. He said on the court’s remarks that it completely reflects “insensitivity” and “inhuman approach”.
During his tenure as a judge of the Supreme Court in the last six years, Justice Gawai was part of about 700 benches hearing cases related to various subjects including constitutional and administrative law, civil and criminal law, commercial disputes, arbitration law and environment law.
He wrote about 300 decisions, including the decisions of the Constitution Bench related to various issues related to maintaining the rule of law and protecting the original, human and legal rights of the citizens.
As the Chief Justice, Justice Gawai will have to deal with many issues ranging from more than 81,000 cases pending in the apex court to vacant posts in courts.
In the judicial context, he will deal with the controversial issues related to challenging the validity of the much talked about Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
A few days before taking oath as Chief Justice, Justice Gawai had told reporters at his residence here that the Constitution is supreme. He also clarified that he would not take charge after retirement.
He was part of the five-judge constitution bench that unanimously retained the Center’s decision to cancel the provisions of Article 370 giving special status to the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state.
Justice Gawai was also included in the Constitution Bench with five judges that canceled the election bond scheme on political donations.
He was also part of the five -judge constitution bench which approved the 2016 decision of the Center to exclude the Rs 1,000 and 500 rupee note with a majority of four against one.
Justice Gawai was also included in the Constitution Bench with seven judges who admitted with a majority of six as compared to a majority that states have constitutional rights to sub-classification within the Scheduled Castes to give reservation for the upliftment of those castes which are socially and educationally more backward.
The Constitution Bench of seven judges, including Justice Gawai, ruled that the arbitration subdivision applies in agreements with the parties without a ‘stamp’ or lack of proper ‘stamp’ as this type of deficiency can be overcome and this flaw does not make the agreement illegal.
Justice Gawai was also part of the Constitution Bench of five judges which ruled in January 2023 that the fundamental right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression of high public positions could not be imposed as there are already comprehensive grounds under the Constitution to control that right.
Setting the All India guidelines on demolition, he had given a historic verdict that no property should be demolished without issuing a ‘show cause notice’ and the affected should be given 15 days to respond to the affected. He also heard in matters related to the safety of forests, wildlife, trees and passed several orders to protect the environment.
Justice Gawai has given lectures on various constitutional and environmental issues in various universities and organizations including Columbia University and Harvard University.
Justice Gawai was promoted as Additional Judge of the Mumbai High Court on 14 November 2003. He became a permanent judge of the High Court on November 12, 2005.
He joined the bar on March 16, 1985 and was a permanent lawyer of Nagpur Municipal Corporation, Amravati Municipal Corporation and Amravati University.
Justice Gawai was appointed as Assistant Government Advocate and Additional Public Prosecutor in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court from August 1992 to July 1993. He was appointed a government prosecutor for the Nagpur bench on 17 January 2000.
His predecessor Justice Sanjeev Khanna recommended the name of Justice Gawai as the next Chief Justice from the Center on 16 April.
The Law Ministry issued a notification on April 29, announced the appointment of Justice Gawai as the 52nd Chief Justice.
