New Delhi:
Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai of the Supreme Court will take oath as the next Chief Justice of India today. He steps into Justice Sanjeev Khanna’s shoes, who retired on the same day.
Very few people know that Chief Justice Designation wanted to become an architect. But he became a lawyer to fulfill his father’s wish, sources close to him said.
Ramakrishna Suryabhan Gawai, father of Justice Gawai, was a social person. He was a famous Ambedkarite leader and founder of the Republican Party of India. His followers and fans called him Dadasahb.
Sources said that RS Gawai wanted to become a lawyer and took admission in law school. But he could not study after the second year due to his work in the social sector.
Justice Gawai wanted to become an architect. But his father asked him to fulfill his dream of becoming a lawyer. Then he took a law degree from Nagpur University and started practicing on 16 March 1985.
Later, Chief Justice of Bombay High Court CK Thakkar sought his consent to recommend his name for appointment as High Court Judge.
He was not interested. But he consulted his MP father who asked him to accept the proposal.
“You will contribute more to the society. One day you will become the Chief Justice of India. But I will not stay there to see that day,” his father clearly told him.
Justice Gawai’s father died in 2015 – long before a judge of the Supreme Court was appointed.
Justice Gawai started his education at the municipal primary school in Amravati and later shifted to Mumbai’s Chikita group middle school, when his father became the vice -president of the Maharashtra Legislative Council.
His brothers and sisters were students at a convent school and his mother, Kamaltai, felt that Justice Bhushan is studying in a Marathi medium school, falling behind in English.
She was the one who emphasized her on enrolling the holy name of Colaba from where she completed the high school.
After starting his career as a lawyer, Justice Gawai practiced independently in the Bombay High Court. After 1990, he practiced in Nagpur.
Senior advocate and MP Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that Justice Gavai is “one of the most practical and result-oriented judges I have 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”.
He said, “Despite being one of the best judges in the country so far, he is clear and uninhabited. His legal skills are without any great performance. He is advancing Dr. Ambedkar’s true heritage … The nation has proud to be as a judge and as the next Chief Justice of India,” he said.
