New Delhi, May 11 Ahead of taking oath as the 52nd Chief Justice of India on May 14, Justice B.R. Gavai on Sunday shared his sorrow over the tragic incident in Pahalgam and said that the Supreme Court cannot remain untouched when the country is mourning.
In an informal conversation with the media, Justice Gavai, son of former Bihar governor R.S. Gavai, takes pride in being at the cusp of becoming the first Buddhist CJI of the country.
“My father had embraced Buddhism along with Baba Saheb Ambedkar. I will become the first Buddhist Chief Justice of the country,” he said.
He said he believes in all religions and said, “I go to temples, dargahs, Jain temples, gurudwaras everywhere.”
On the issue of perceived judicial overreach and use of strong words against the judiciary by constitutional functionaries, Justice Gavai said, “People may say anything, but the Constitution is supreme. This has been said in the decision of the 13-judge bench of Kesavananda Bharati.”
Speaking about the India-Pakistan conflict and the subsequent understanding on ceasefire, he said, “War is not a good thing.”
“We have two examples of war in front of us, which are still going on. For how many days has the war been going on in Ukraine, and what have we got from it? Meaning, nothing is gained from war,” he said.
Talking about the April 22 Pahalgam incident, he said he was very sad when he came to know about the incident from newspapers in the morning.
Sharing details about the developments in the Supreme Court after the terror attack, he said, “At that time, the Chief Justice was out of the country. He was contacted, then we decided that two minutes of silence would be observed for those who lost their lives in the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, and it was observed.”
“After all, we are also responsible citizens of this country, we are also affected by it. When the country is in mourning, the Supreme Court cannot remain aloof from it,” he said.
Talking about post-retirement plans, Justice Gavai said that he has no intention of joining politics. “My father was a big leader in Maharashtra. He was the governor of many states, including Bihar. But I do not want to go into politics. Politics of that time was different,” he said.
He also made it clear that he will not take any political post after retirement. “Once you become the CJI, then after retirement you should not accept those posts which are below the post of CJI in the protocol, the post of governor also comes below the CJI,” he said.
On the question of accountability and transparency, Justice Gavai suggested that High Court judges should also declare their assets like Supreme Court judges.
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