Justice BR Gavai takes over as CJI for a 6 month tenure

Context

• Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai was sworn in by President Droupadi Murmu as the 52nd Chief Justice of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday.

• Chief Justice Gavai has a tenure of over six months till November 23. He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019 from the Bombay High Court.

• Justice Gavai is the 1^st Buddhist Chief Justice of India and 2^nd Dalit CJI . He was born on November 24, 1960 at Amravati. He joined the Bar on March 16, 1985. Justice Gavai’s father, Ramakrishna Suryabhan Gavai, also known as ‘Dadasaheb’, was a former Governor of Bihar and a prominent Dalit leader

Appointment of CJI

• Article 124 (1) of the Constitution merely says, “There shall be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief Justice of India.”

• Clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution says that every Judge of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President.

• Thus, in the absence of a constitutional provision, the procedure to appoint CJI relies on convention.

• The outgoing CJI recommends his successor a practice, which is strictly based on seniority.

• Seniority, however, is not defined by age, but by the number of years a judge has been serving in the top court of the country.

• The Central government has no role to play in the appointment of the CJI except for the Union Law Minister seeking the recommendation from the incumbent CJI, before sending it to the Prime Minister.

• Apart from being an Indian citizen, the person must:

1Have been for at least five years a Judge of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession or

2Have been for at least ten years an advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession, or

3Be, in the opinion of the President, a distinguished jurist