New Delhi, May 14: Justice BR Gavai, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, was on Wednesday sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India (CJI) during a formal ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office at 10 am.
Justice Gavai becomes only the second Dalit to assume the top judicial post after Justice KG Balakrishnan, who served as the 37th CJI between 2007 and 2010.
Following the swearing-in, Justice Gavai touched the feet of his mother, Kamaltai Gavai, in an emotional gesture that drew attention from attendees. The ceremony was witnessed by a gathering of prominent dignitaries, including Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar, Lok Sabha Speaker OM Birla, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, outgoing CJI Sanjiv Khanna, and sitting and retired judges of the apex court.
Justice Gavai succeeds Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who demitted office on April 13 after a six-month term. Justice Khanna had recommended Gavai as his successor on April 16. The Centre formally notified the appointment on April 29.
Born on November 24, 1960, in Amravati, Maharashtra, Justice Gavai began his legal career in March 1985. He served as standing counsel for the Municipal Corporations of Nagpur and Amravati and as counsel for Amravati University. He also held roles as assistant government pleader and later as public prosecutor at the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur Bench before being appointed a judge.
He was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court on November 14, 2003, and became a permanent judge in 2005. On May 24, 2019, he was appointed to the Supreme Court. As CJI, Justice Gavai will have a tenure of just over six months, retiring on November 23, 2025.
Justice Gavai has contributed to several high-profile constitutional rulings. He was part of the five-judge bench that, in December 2023, unanimously upheld the abrogation of Article 370, ending Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. In February 2024, he joined the bench that struck down the Centre’s electoral bonds scheme. He was also among the judges who upheld the 2016 demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
In another major ruling, Justice Gavai was part of a seven-judge bench that upheld the principle of sub-classification within Scheduled Castes for reservations. He is currently presiding over matters related to forests and wildlife and led a bench that issued national guidelines prohibiting demolitions without prior notice, stating, “No property shall be demolished without issuing a show-cause notice. Affected parties must be given 15 days to respond.”
His elevation follows the established convention of seniority in appointing the Chief Justice, a tradition broken only twice in India’s judicial history—in 1973 and 1977.
As he assumes leadership of the judiciary, Justice Gavai brings with him a record of judicial activism, constitutional clarity, and a commitment to procedural fairness.
