Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Wednesday recommended Justice B.R. Gavai, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, as his successor. Justice Gavai is expected to be sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India on May 14.
Justice Khanna was appointed as CJI on November 11, 2024, succeeding former CJI D Y Chandrachud, who retired on November 10. Khanna is due to retire on May 13, having served a tenure of six months. The retirement age of Supreme Court judges is 65 years.
Justice Gavai’s tenure as CJI will span over six months, concluding on November 23.
As per the established practice of the senior-most judge being named as the successor, CJI Khanna wrote to the Central government recommending Justice Gavai’s name.
According to the Memorandum of Procedure, the Centre requests the outgoing CJI to name their successor approximately one month prior to retirement.
Justice Gavai was elevated to the Supreme Court on May 29, 2019. He was first appointed as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court in November 2003 and became a permanent judge in November 2005.
Before his elevation to the Bench, Justice Gavai practiced Constitutional and Administrative Law. He served as Standing Counsel for the Municipal Corporation of Nagpur, Amravati Municipal Corporation, and Amravati University. He was appointed Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor at the Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench) in August 1992, serving until July 1993. He later became Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor for the Nagpur Bench on January 17, 2000.
In the Supreme Court, Justice Gavai was part of a 7-judge Constitution Bench that dealt with whether sub-classification within reserved category groups is permissible under the Constitution for more targeted affirmative action.
-IANS
