BR Gavai sworn in as 52nd CJI; President’s 14 posers his 1st test

NEW DELHI:

Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai

began his tenure as Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Wednesday by seeking blessings from his mother in the presence of

President Droupadi Murmu

and PM Narendra Modi at Ganatantra Mandap of Rashtrapati Bhavan, and by paying tribute to

Dr B R Ambedkar

at Supreme Court.One of the first jobs at hand of the new CJI will be to deal with President Murmu’s reference under Article 143(1) seeking SC’s opinion on whether the apex court could fix deadlines for governors and the President for giving assent to Bills passed by assemblies.This appears to be the culmination of sharp reactions from the executive, articulated by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, to a timeline-fixing recent ruling by a two-judge bench led by Justice J B Pardiwala. CJI Gavai will have to constitute a

Constitution bench

comprising a minimum of five judges to give its opinion to the President’s 14 queries.The oath administered in Hindi by the Prez at 10.05am was solemnly affirmed by Justice Gavai, departing from the general practice of swearing in in the name of God. Dhankar, LS Speaker Om Birla, defence minister Rajnath Singh, home minister Amit Shah and other Union ministers, along with ex-CJIs including Justice Sanjiv Khanna and judges of SC and HCs, were present.

Justice Gavai is the first Buddhist and second Dalit to become CJI, the first being Justice K G Balakrishnan. The second Dalit President Ramnath Kovind, the first being K R Narayanan, was present at Justice Gavai’s

oath ceremony

.When he took oath, President Murmu was to his right, a fifth century statue of Buddha in Abhay mudra was behind and a grand portrait of Mahatma Gandhi adorned the high wall on his left at Ganatantra Mandap, earlier known as Durbar Hall and as Throne Room during British reign.After being sworn in as 52nd CJI, Justice Gavai touched the feet of his octogenarian mother Kamaltai, who flew in from Amravati and was seated on the front row, to seek her blessings. She was instrumental in shifting Bhushan from a Marathi medium to an English medium school to ensure he did not lag behind siblings studying in a convent school in Mumbai.From Rashtrapati Bhavan, the CJI reached SC and went straight to Dr BR Ambedkar’s statue to pay floral tributes. He also paid tributes at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. “The first day went well,” Justice Gavai told TOI. A contingent of nearly 400 lawyers from Maharashtra had arrived to felicitate him. Unprecedentedly, there were judges from across HCs who attended his swearing in.