Justice Gavai to continue interviews for high court judgeship, push for diversity with merit as CJI

Speaking to ThePrint, the SC judge points out benefits of personal interaction with candidates chosen by respective HCs for elevation. He is set to take oath as 52nd CJI Wednesday.

Chief Justice of India-designate Justice B.R. Gavai | Photo: ANI

New Delhi: The practice to interview candidates being considered for high court judgeship will continue even after Justice B.R. Gavai takes over as head of the Supreme Court collegium that selects advocates for elevation to the bench, upon being sworn in as the next Chief Justice of India later this week.

In a conversation with ThePrint Sunday, Justice Gavai pointed out the benefits of personal interaction with candidates chosen by the respective high courts for elevation.

He said it enabled members of the collegium to understand the candidates before approving and forwarding their names to the government for appointment. This, he added, would also, to some extent, avoid controversies that have recently taken place on account of some judges making unwarranted observations in orders as well as outside the court.

“We got an opportunity to test the capabilities of lawyers chosen by the HC collegium first-hand. And, therefore, I believe this process should continue,” he said.

Justice Gavai will take oath as the 52nd Chief Justice of India (CJI) Wednesday. He is the first Buddhist practitioner to hold the post and the second Dalit, after former CJI K.G. Balakrishnan, to hold the top judicial post in India.

Justice Gavai will take over the reins from outgoing CJI Sanjiv Khanna, who currently heads the three-member collegium that decides on high court judges. Besides Justice Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, who will assume the CJI’s office following Justice Gavai’s retirement in November-end, too is a collegium member.

Interview of lawyers for elevation to the bench re-started in December last year, following controversial statements made by a sitting Allahabad HC judge at a public event organised by the legal cell of the right-wing outfit Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

Apart from continuing with the interview practice, Justice Gavai in his six-month tenure will push for appointing more women lawyers as high court judges.

“High courts have been asked to look for eligible women lawyers for elevation to the bench. They have also been told that if women advocates are less in numbers, then the high courts should find suitable candidates from among the women lawyers practising in the Supreme Court, who hail from the state where the appointment is to be made,” he said.

Being a first-generation lawyer, Justice Gavai is keen to encourage young advocates, who do not have a family lineage in the legal profession, for judgeship.

He, however, denied that there is nepotism in the judiciary and said data released by the Supreme Court on judges appointed to high courts in the last two years proves the same.

He explained that if a judge’s child is meritorious, then he or she should be given an opportunity to become a judge. However, for such a person, he added, the benchmark can be higher compared to those who have no relations in the judiciary.

Acknowledging that the representation of backward castes and classes in the judiciary is low, Justice Gavai was, however, of the opinion that in the name of inclusivity and diversity, merit should not be compromised. “Merit cannot be ignored,” he said firmly.

On taking office, he said he would focus on clearing all cases, particularly those that raise important public issues such as freebies offered by political parties, pending in the court.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)