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Overwhelmed by rich tributes on his last working day, Chief Justice of India Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai said he was leaving the institution ‘with a full sense of satisfaction and contentment’ and as a ‘student of justice’ on concluding four decades of journey as a lawyer and a judge.
According to media reports , In another farewell function held by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) in the evening, the 52nd CJI recalled the ire that he faced from his own community for one of his judgments in which it was held that the creamy layers among the Scheduled Castes (SCs) can also be denied the reservation benefits in admissions and jobs.
“Being an ardent student of the Constitution, the virtues of equality, justice, liberty and fraternity were always close to my heart,” he said.
The CJI, who would demit office on November 23, a Sunday, justified his recent landmark verdict quashing key provisions of the 2021 Tribunals Reforms law saying independence of the judiciary is the basic structure of the Constitution and freedom of tribunals cannot be compromised.
Recalling his journey from a humble background and lesser-known place at Amravati to the top court, CJI Gavai, the first Buddhist and second Dalit head of the Indian judiciary after K G Balakrishnan said that the Constitution and the values of his parents made it possible.
“I am very satisfied with the journey which started 40 years ago,” the CJI said, while recalling the incidents and cases which he dealt with in his career.
“I made an example of how a son of a senior IAS officer studying in Delhi at a premier school can be made to compete with the son of an agriculturist. My law clerk, whose father is a senior IAS officer, said from now on he will not take any benefit given to the Scheduled Castes. That young boy understood what politicians fail to understand for reasons best known to him,” he said.
CJI-designate Justice Surya Kant will succeed Justice Gavai on November 24.
