Justice BR Gavai appointed as next Chief Justice of India

The Centre on Tuesday cleared the appointment of Supreme Court judge, Justice B.R. Gavai, as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI).

"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," said a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.

Incumbent CJI Sanjiv Khanna is due to retire on May 13 on attainment of the age of 65 years.

He had recommended Justice Gavai as his successor earlier this month.

Justice Gavai, in line to be the 52nd CJI, will have a tenure of over 6 months, and he will demit office on November 23, 2025.

Justice Gavai was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on May 29, 2019. Appointed as Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court in November 2003, he became a permanent Judge in November 2005.

Before elevation to the Bench, he practised in constitutional law and administrative law, and acted as Standing Counsel for Municipal Corporation of Nagpur, Amravati Municipal Corporation, and Amravati University. He was appointed as Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor in the Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench in August 1992 and served till July 1993. He was appointed as Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor for the Nagpur Bench on January 17, 2000.

In the apex court, Justice Gavai, a part of the 7-judge Constitution Bench dealing with the question of whether a sub-classification amongst reserved category groups for giving more beneficial treatment would be permissible under the Constitution, suggested the application of the "creamy layer" principle to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) for availing benefits of affirmative action.

In his detailed opinion, Justice Gavai said: "When the 9-Judge Bench in Indra Sawhney held that applicability of such a test (creamy layer test) insofar as Other Backward Classes are concerned would advance equality as enshrined in the Constitution, then why such a test should not also be made applicable to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe."

"Can a child of IAS/IPS or Civil Service officers be equated with a child of a disadvantaged member belonging to Scheduled Castes, studying in a Gram Panchayat/Zilla Parishad school in a village?" he asked.

Justice Gavai said putting the children of the parents from the SCs and STs who, on account of the benefit of reservation, have reached a high position and ceased to be socially, economically and educationally backward and the children of parents doing manual work in the villages in the same category would defeat the constitutional mandate.