Justice B.R. Gavai will be sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India on May 14, 2025 and will be the first Buddhist CJI. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Chief Justice of India-designate Justice B.R. Gavai, believes that trolls who scandalise the court on social media and resort to personal attacks against judges must be dealt with an iron hand.
“I have no second opinions about that. If it is a matter of somebody hurting the dignity of the court, there is no compromise,” Justice Gavai, dressed in formals, emphatically conveyed his point to media persons invited to his residence for an interaction on Sunday (May 11, 2025).
He said there are times when the Executive has to support the judiciary in such situations.
Justice Gavai will be the first Buddhist Chief Justice of India.
“My father (former parliamentarian and Governor R.S. Gavai) converted to Buddhism along with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and lakhs of others in October 1956. His family also converted to the faith, and tomorrow is Buddha Purnima,” Justice Gavai told The Hindu over the telephone later in the evening.
He will be sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India on May 14, exactly a month after Ambedkar Jayanti.
‘Campaign’ against judges
Asked during the interaction about the “campaign” against judges in the backdrop of the recent derogatory comments made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey against the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Gavai said “some other judges would have taken a different view” of the MP’s comments.
Chief Justice Khanna, in an order, found the comments amounted to contempt of court but restrained from initiating any action, saying it was not worth it. Agreeing that the MP’s comments against the court and the CJI were indeed contemptuous, Justice Gavai however said reactions “depend from person to person”.
Also read: Supreme Court lawyer seeks contempt proceedings against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey
Justice Gavai found the criticism that the Supreme Court was using its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to be a “missile” quite unwarranted. “No, we do not do that,” he stressed. Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar had dubbed Article 142 a “nuclear missile” shortly after an apex court judgment fixed timelines for the President and Governors to clear pending Bills.
Justice Gavai said High Court judges should exercise restraint and refrain from making untoward or distasteful comments inside and out of the courtroom. Periodic training for High Court judges would definitely iron out the rough patches in judicial conduct. He said it was a big ‘no’ for judges to speak on sub judice issues.
“Judges should always exercise a degree of restraint… But, at the same time, there are over 900 High Court judges and we are talking about two or three, who are a miniscule percentage,” he pointed out.
On making judges’ assets public
On the recent publication of assets by the Supreme Court judges on the website, Justice Gavai said some judges have “concerns” whether the information would be misused.
“Speaking for myself, I have followed the practice of disclosing my assets to the Chief Justice right from the beginning in Bombay High Court,” the CJI-designate said.
‘NJAC not bad with some tweaks’
Justice Gavai said the “National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was not a bad thing with some tweaks”. He said the Supreme Court Collegium had always taken the government on board while making recommendations.
The CJI-designate said he had personally not seen any “external pressure” being put on judges to decide cases in a particular manner. “Personally, I cannot find anyone doing that to judges… a high constitutional office… I have not seen anyone exert any pressure,” Justice Gavai said.
Justice Gavai said the Supreme Court Collegium, in the coming days, would take a call on recommending women judges to the apex court Bench. “The Collegium will have to take a call on that,” he said. Justice Bela M. Trivedi is retiring from the Supreme Court Bench on June 9, leaving Justice B.V. Nagarathna as the sole woman judge serving in the top court.
Justice Gavai said he would not accept any post-retirement jobs after his tenure as Chief Justice of India ends on November 23, 2025.
“I had decided from day one that I will not accept any post-retirement jobs,” He said. The CJI-designate said a “cooling-off period” of two years for retired judges before taking up new official assignments hardly made ay difference.
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On the Pahalgam terror attack, he said, “When the country is in danger, judges cannot stay aloof. We are part of the country. We were stunned when we heard of the incident”.
He said he had convened a Full Court after taking permission from Chief Justice Khanna, who was abroad at the time, and announced a two-minute silence across the Supreme Court to pay homage to the victims of the attack.
Published – May 12, 2025 02:00 am IST