Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gawai was sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan today. President Draupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Justice Bra Gavai, who succeeds Justice Sanjeev Khanna in the country’s top judicial post.
After the oath, Chief Justice Gavai was congratulated by President Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhikar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and other members of the Union Cabinet. Former Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna was also in work to wish his successor.
Chief Justice Gawai will hold the top post for six months before retiring in November. Senior jurists joined the bar in 1985 and practiced before the Bombay High Court. He became an additional judge of the Bombay High Court in 2003 and a permanent judge in 2005. He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court in 2019.
As a Judge of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Gawai has been part of several historical decisions, including the Center’s decision to maintain the 2016 demonetisation decision and the decision to declare the election bond plan unconstitutional. He has taken around 300 decisions, many of them are Constitution Bench decisions related to fundamental rights.
Chief Justice Gawai is the second Dalit occupying the country’s top legal position after Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan. Chief Justice Gawai’s father RS Gawai is a social worker who served as a Governor of three states and a member of both houses of Parliament. Rupee Gawai founded the Republican Party of India (Gawai).
Senior advocate and MP Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that Chief Justice Gavai “is one of the most practical and result-oriented judges” he has seen. He said, “The atmosphere of a very pleasant court, great perseverance on action, great sense of humor, ‘successful patient dies of operation’, as far as possible and knows his law well … I wish he had a long term,” he said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, “Justice Gawai is a person of humility. Fantastic but humble. Holding the high constitutional office, but he is the ground … he is intellectually independent and fair for the core … he has immense contribution to our jurisdiction as a landmark judgment distributed in all branches of the law”.
Mr. Mehta said, “He is immoral and unheard despite being one of the best judges in the country so far. His legal skill is without any great performance. He is carrying forward Dr. Ambedkar’s true heritage,” said Mr. Mehta.
