NEW DELHI: Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai, who is in line to become the second Dalit Chief Justice of India, has been in the news for a string of his recent decisions, including staying the Gujarat High Court’s conviction of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case that led to the latter’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha.
Last month, a bench presided by him had termed the observations made by another Gujarat HC judge in a case relating to human rights activist Teesta Setalvad as “perverse” and “contradictory”. The bench granted bail to Setalvad in the criminal case against her for allegedly fabricating false evidence to implicate high dignitaries in the 2002 Gujarat riots. The bench said that her custodial interrogation was not “necessary” since the charge sheet was filed and the documentary evidence was already in custody.
While staying the judgement against Rahul Gandhi, Gavai said that the trial judge, who had awarded him two-year jail, failed to explain the reasons for it. Gavai also said the continuation of his disqualification from Parliament would not only affect his rights to continue in public life but also deprive proper representation to the people of his constituency.
Born on November 24, 1960, Justice Gavai belongs to a family having political association with the Congress party. His father, Justice Ramkrishna Suryabhan Gavai, was founder of the Ambedkarite outfit Republican Party of India (RPI). He was active in Maharashtra politics from 1964 to 1998, was elected to Lok Sabha from Amravati constituency as RPI’s candidate in 1998 and also served as the Governor of Bihar, Sikkim and Kerala between 2006 and 2011 when the Congress-led UPA was in power. Even his brother, Dr Rajendra Gavai, had joined hands with Ramdas Athwale in 2009 with an aim to bring together all factions of RPI. But the differences between the two leaders later resulted in a split, with the Gavai-led faction entering into a pre-poll alliance with the Congress.
Justice Gavai was enrolled as an advocate in 1985 and served as the government pleader and then government prosecutor for the Maharashtra government before being appointed as Bombay HC judge on November 14, 2003. He served as Bombay HC judge for 16 years before being elevated to the Supreme Court. His name was recommended by the SC collegium led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi in 2019.
He is in line to become the second Dalit CJI, who would be at the SC’s helm from May 14 to November 24, 2025, after Justice K G Balakrishnan, who served as CJI from 2007 to 2010. Appointed as SC judge on May 24, 2019, Justice Gavai has rendered a series of significant verdicts. He is also a part of the constitution bench that is currently hearing pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
On July 11, 2023, Gavai, while heading the three-judge bench, quashed the Centre’s order of granting a third extension to Enforcement Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra, terming the same as “illegal” in a 103-page verdict. The bench, also comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol, asked Mishra to demit office by July 31, 2023. But on July 27, 2023, after considering the Centre’s request, extended Mishra’s tenure till September 15, to serve the “public and national interest.”
Justice Gavai had also penned a 258-page majority opinion on behalf of himself and Justices S Abdul Nazeer, A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian while upholding Centre’s 2016 demonetisation Scheme on January 2, 2023. The judge had opined that RBI and the Central government were in consultation with each other for at least six months preceding the action. He stated that the Centre had the power to declare any denomination of currency as invalid tender and that the demonetisation scheme satisfied the ‘test of proportionality’.
A day later, a five-judge bench he was a part of, said that the “stink of corruption” not only has a “pervasive impact” on the functioning of the entire country but also demoralises honest officers.
Heading a bench on November 11, 2022, the judge directed for forthwith release of six convicts serving life sentences for more than three decades in the Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case. While ordering this, he took into consideration the Tamil Nadu state cabinet’s recommendation for the premature release of the convicts to the Governor, which was not acted upon by him.
He was also part of the SC bench that declared as “unconstitutional” Tamil Nadu’s reservation for Vanniyars in education and jobs within the Most Backward Classes category on March 31, 2022.