Justice BR Gavai took oath as the 52nd Chief Justice of India (CJI) today, Wednesday, May 14, becoming the country's first Buddhist to lead the judicial branch.

President Droupadi Murmu presided over Justice Gavai's swearing-in ceremony, which came after CJI Sanjiv Khanna's retirement.

The second-ever Dalit CJI in India, he hails from a village in Maharashtra's Amravati region and rose from humble beginnings to the highest judicial post in the country.

He touched his mother's feet after taking the oath of office at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Born in Amaravati on November 24, 1960, he is the son of RS Gavai, a professional politician who founded the Republican Party of India (Gavai).

Justice Gavai has played a vital role in defining the legal environment as a Supreme Court Judge, penning about 300 verdicts, including historic rulings on Constitutional concerns, liberty, and, perhaps most crucially, against the executive's "bulldozer justice".

He was appointed to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, and has served on Constitutional benches that have issued landmark decisions on issues such as Article 370, electoral bonds, and the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes.

Most recently, he is also heading a bench hearing a petition requesting that the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2025 be conducted in a single shift to ensure transparency, consistency in difficulty levels, and equal standards of evaluation.