B.R. Gavai | A firm hand

B.R. Gavai
| Photo Credit: Illustration: Sreejith R. Kumar

In March, Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, who has been recommended for appointment as the 52nd Chief Justice of India, travelled to Manipur with a team of Supreme Court judges to personally interact with the victims of the prolonged ethnic conflict.

While the judges spent hours at medical camps distributing relief materials and launching legal aid camps organised by the National Legal Services Authority, Justice Gavai recalled one particular instance which touched his heart. A woman came forward and greeted the judges with a beaming “welcome to your home” message. Justice Gavai said the judges, often taunted by the public and detractors for living in ivory towers, went to Manipur as messengers of peace and goodwill. The few words of welcome marked a moment of “great learning”.

Born in a Maharashtrian family immersed in social activism, Justice Gavai drew inspiration from the teachings of B.R. Ambedkar and the tenets of the Constitution. His father, Ramkrishna Suryabhan ‘Dadasaheb’ Gavai, who had served as a parliamentarian and former Governor of Kerala and Bihar, was a prominent leader of the Ambedkar movement.

The senior judge, who would be only the second Dalit to be the CJI, said one of the greatest debates during the framing of the Constitution was whether there was an imbalance of power between the Centre and the States. One faction believed the Centre was getting more power, while the other lot felt power tilted more towards the States. Justice Gavai said Dr. Ambedkar had answered both factions by pointing to the message of unity in the Constitution.

The recommendation of Justice Gavai as the next CJI for a tenure of over six months till his retirement on November 23 has come at a time when the judiciary is facing criticism for ‘overreach’ and allegations of corruption and lack of transparency.

The court has been blamed of judicial overreach by issuing a mandamus to the President to follow a timeline while clearing Bills in the Tamil Nadu Governor case. The controversy of the alleged discovery of half-burnt currency in the official residence of High Court judge, Justice Yashwant Varma, is awaiting the inquiry committee report.

Critics have pointed to the lack of an FIR against the judge. Recent days have seen the Supreme Court troubled by the sexist observations coming out of Allahabad High Court Bench in cases involving sexual violence against women. Though all these are incumbent Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna’s problems, they could very well be the legacy Justice Gavai inherits on assuming office as top judge on May 14.

Justice Gavai conducts his court with a firm hand. He does not mince words when lawyers, however distinguished, interrupt him during the dictation of an order in open court. A dry refrain “then you pass the order” usually has the desired effect on such occasions.

Momentous judgments

In the past five years as a Supreme Court judge, Justice Gavai was part of several momentous judgments. These include upholding the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and striking down of the electoral bonds scheme.

Justice Gavai, while confirming the right of States to sub-classify Scheduled Castes, had noted it was time to take a call on exempting the ‘creamy layer’ of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from reservation benefits.

Recent hearings in the Supreme Court have seen the judge steer the course of closely-watched cases with a steady hand, taking decisions without delay while refusing to defer orders to another day.

Some of these decisions have been tough. They include delivering a blow to the ‘bulldozer culture’. The judge had compared the “chilling sight of a bulldozer demolishing a building” to an era of lawlessness when might was right.

Similarly, a Saturday night in July 2023 had seen the judge head straight to court from a cultural programme to protect activist—Teesta Setalvad from immediate surrender.

Earlier this week, Justice Gavai saved the Kancha Gachibowli forest of Telangana from an infrastructural project, observing that high-rises were not good company for wild deer.

Heading the Green Bench, Justice Gavai has retained the dictionary meaning of the term ‘forest’, thus stalling the sweeping amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Act and protecting nearly two lakh square km of undeclared forest lands.

Justice Gavai is expected to deliver a significant judgment on the powers of the Speaker while deciding petitions seeking the disqualification of legislators under the anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule of the Constitution). The judge had voiced in court the need to set time limits for Speakers, who are often accused of political partisanship.