CJI Gavai is first Buddhist to head India's judiciary

New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) Justice B.R. Gavai who was administered the oath of office by President Droupadi Murmu early on Wednesday as the 52nd Chief Justice of India (CJI), is the first Buddhist to head the country's judiciary.

CJI Gavai, will have a tenure of over six months, and he will demit the highest judicial office of the country on November 23, 2025.

President Murmu, in exercise of powers under Article 124(2) of the Constitution, had appointed Justice Gavai, the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court, as Chief Justice of India, and the Ministry of Law and Justice had later notified his appointment on April 29.

Justice Gavai was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on May 24, 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.

Earlier, in an informal interaction with the media, Justice Gavai expressed sorrow over the tragic incident in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam and said that the Supreme Court cannot remain untouched when the country is mourning.

Son of former Bihar Governor R.S. Gavai, Justice Gavai also took pride in the fact that he would be the first Buddhist CJI of the country.

"My father had embraced Buddhism along with Baba Saheb Ambedkar. I will become the first Buddhist Chief Justice of the country," he said.

Asserting that he believes in all religions, Justice Gavai said, "I go to temples, dargahs, Jain temples, gurudwaras everywhere."

In the apex court, Justice Gavai, a part of the 7-judge Constitution Bench dealing with the question of whether a sub-classification among 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 Tribes."

"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.

--IANS

pds/rad