• In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 124(2) of the Constitution of India, President Droupadi Murmu appointed Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai as the 52nd Chief Justice of India with effect from May 14.

• The Law Ministry issued a notification announcing Justice Gavai’s appointment as next CJI.

• He would enter the office of the CJI on May 14, a day after incumbent CJI Justice Sanjiv Khanna retires.

• As per laid down procedure, his name was recommended by CJI Khanna on April 16 to the central government.

• Justice Gavai, will have a tenure of over six months and he would demit office on November 23 on attaining the age of 65 years.

• He is the senior-most Supreme Court judge after the incumbent CJI Khanna. 

Process for appointment of CJI

• The Chief Justice of India and the judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President under clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution.

• According to the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), which governs the process of appointment of judges in higher judiciary, the outgoing CJI initiates the process of naming the successor after getting a communication from the law ministry. 

• The MoP, however, does not specify the time limit for the initiation of the process of recommending the name of the successor CJI.

• Appointment to the office of the CJI should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office. 

• The Union minister of law, justice and company affairs would, at the appropriate time, seek the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Justice of India for the appointment of the next Chief Justice of India.

• Whenever there is any doubt about the fitness of the senior-most judge to hold the office of the Chief Justice of India, consultation with other judges as envisaged in Article 124(2) of the Constitution would be made for appointment of the next Chief Justice of India.

• After receipt of the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India, the Union minister of law, justice and company affairs will put up the recommendation to the Prime Minister who will advise the President in the matter of appointment.

Who is Justice Gavai?

• Born on November 24, 1960 at Amravati, Justice Gavai was elevated as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court on November 14, 2003.

• He had joined the bar on March 16, 1985 and was the standing counsel for the Municipal Corporation of Nagpur, Amravati Municipal Corporation and Amravati University.

• He was appointed as an assistant government pleader and additional public prosecutor in the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur bench from August 1992 to July 1993.

• He was appointed as a government pleader and public prosecutor for the Nagpur bench on January 17, 2000.

• He became a permanent judge of the High Court on November 12, 2005.

• Justice Gavai was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019.

• He has been a part of several Constitution benches in the apex court which delivered path-breaking verdicts.

• He was part of a five-judge Constitution bench which in December 2023 unanimously upheld the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 bestowing special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir.

• Another five-judge Constitution bench, of which Justice Gavai was a part, annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding.

• He was a part of a five-judge Constitution bench which, by a 4:1 majority verdict, gave its stamp of approval to the Centre’s 2016 decision to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination currency notes.

• Justice Gavai was part of a seven-judge constitution bench, which by a 6:1 majority held that states are constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes, which form a socially heterogeneous class, for granting reservation for the uplift of castes that are socially and educationally more backward among them.

• In an important verdict, a bench headed by Justice Gavai laid down pan-India guidelines and said no property should be demolished without a prior show cause notice and the affected must be given 15 days to respond.

• He is also heading the bench which is hearing matters related to forests, wildlife and protection of trees.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)