CJI Gavai On Missed Elevation Of Ex-Chief Justice Of Madras HC: 'Supreme Court's Loss...'

3 hours ago 5

ARTICLE AD BOX

Last Updated:June 27, 2025, 23:38 IST

Chief Justice of India BR Gavai said that he has focused on elevating judges based on merit for Supreme Court as well as High Courts.

CJI BR Gavai talks about Justice SV Gangapurwala (PTI Image)

Chief Justice of India BR Gavai on Friday recounted how former Madras High Court Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala was not elevated to the Supreme Court, terming it the “loss" of the apex court.

Justice Gangapurwala retired as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court on May 23, 2024. He was sitting in the auditorium when the Chief Justice of India made the remarks at the Advocates’ Association of Bombay High Court Bench in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

“At times, things don’t happen the way you want. One of the reasons given was that the Bombay High Court already has got four judges in the Supreme Court. So, Justice Dipankar Datta gave a suggestion that until one of the judges in the Supreme Court retires, the Bombay High Court will not get any Chief Justice," the CJI said.

“We will postpone the position of Chief Justice of Bombay High Court so that the total quota of five does not exceed, but, unfortunately, I will not be speaking about that now because of the office I hold, which restrains me. I will speak more about it after November 24, 2025. Sanjay bhai, you have lost nothing by not coming to the Supreme Court. It is the loss of the Supreme Court. I did not want to say all this," Justice Gavai added.

The Chief Justice said he had promised to talk about how judges are chosen and promoted in the Supreme Court Collegium after his retirement. He added that since joining the Collegium, he has tried to make sure judges are promoted based on merit.

He explained, “There’s a rule that we shouldn’t reveal what happens inside the Collegium meetings, and I won’t break that rule. But I do want to share one moment—after Justice PB Varale was promoted to the Supreme Court, we met the next morning, and Justice Datta sat next to me."

He said that the top Chief Justices from the High Courts should be brought to the Supreme Court. “I must say we took that idea seriously," he added. “I was able to convince most—actually, all—of the Collegium members that the best Chief Justice that India has should come to the Supreme Court."

He also said, “I’m happy to share that during my time in the Collegium, I focused on promoting judges based on merit, whether for the Supreme Court or the High Courts."

Ashesh Mallick

Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes...Read More

Location :

Maharashtra, India, India

First Published:

News india CJI Gavai On Missed Elevation Of Ex-Chief Justice Of Madras HC: 'Supreme Court's Loss...'

Read Entire Article