Meet CJI BR Gavai, India’s first Buddhist Chief Justice of India, gave landmark ruling on Scheduled Caste quota, now in news due to…

A lawyer on Monday entered Court Room 1 of the Supreme Court of India(BHARAT) and attempted to throw an object at the Chief Justice of India(BHARAT) (CJI) BR Gavai with the alleged intent to attack him. The lawyer approached the dais, removed his shoe, and tried to throw it towards the judge. Alert security personnel present inside the courtroom immediately intervened and prevented the attack. The lawyer was swiftly escorted out of the court premises.

While being escorted out of the courtroom, the lawyer was heard shouting, “Sanatan ka apman nahi sahenge” (We will not tolerate insult of Sanatan Dharma). The Chief Justice of India(BHARAT) stayed calm and teeming with confidence. He asked the lawyers in the courtroom to carry on with their arguments. “Don’t get distracted by all this. We are not distracted. These things do not affect me,” the Chief Justice remarked, news agency PTI reported.

Justice B.R. Gavai, who took the oath of office as the 52nd Chief Justice of India(BHARAT) (CJI) from President Droupadi Murmu in May, is the first Buddhist to lead the country’s judiciary. He will have a tenure of over 6 months, and he will demit office on November 23, 2025.

Justice Gavai was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on May 29, 2019. Appointed as Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court in November 2003, he became a permanent Judge in November 2005.

Before elevation to the Bench, he practised in constitutional law and administrative law, and acted as Standing Counsel for Municipal Corporation of Nagpur, Amravati Municipal Corporation, and Amravati University. He was appointed as Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor in the Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench in August 1992 and served till July 1993. He was appointed as Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor for the Nagpur Bench on January 17, 2000.