CJI B.R. Gavai, referring to Justice S.V. Gangapurwala not being elevated, said, “Sometimes things don’t happen the way we hope,” and added he will speak on judge appointments after his retirement on November 24, 2025.
Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai shared a story about Madras High Court Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala, who was not promoted to the Supreme Court. He said that sometimes things don’t happen the way we hope or expect.
At the Advocates’ Association of the Bombay High Court Bench in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra, he stated,
“At times, things don’t happen the way you want. One of the reasons given was that the Bombay High Court has already got four judges in the Supreme Court. So, Justice Dipankar Dattagave a suggestion that until one of the judges in the Supreme Court retires, the Bombay High Court will not get any Chief Justice,”
He continued,
“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 anything about that now because of the office I hold which restraints me. I will speak more about it after November 24, 2025.”
Justice Gangapurwala, who retired last year, was present in the audience when CJI Gavai remarked,
“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.”
The Chief Justice expressed his intention to discuss the appointments and elevations of judges within the Supreme Court Collegium after his retirement.
He mentioned that since joining the Collegium, he has aimed for merit-based elevations.
He explained,
“There is a convention that we must not leak out the proceedings of the Collegium. I will not be doing anything that will amount to leaking out anything about the Collegium. But one thing I must share is that after Justice P.B. Varale was elevated to the Supreme Court, we met in the morning and Justice Datta sat near me,”
He added,
“He said that the best Chief Justices that we have in the high courts should come to the Supreme Court. I must say that we took the idea seriously. I was in a position to convince most of the members of the Collegium, or rather, I would say that all the members of the Collegium that the best Chief Justice that India has should come to the Supreme Court,”
CJI Gavai emphasized his commitment to merit-based elevation in both the Supreme Court and the High Court, stating that when shortlisting candidates, considerations of caste or creed are not relevant.
He said,
“Only see how the candidate is, whether he qualifies or not, whether his integrity is good or not. He knows the laws well or not. Only that is seen,”
He also mentioned Justice A.S. Chandurkar, recently elevated from the Bombay High Court, noting his personal connection to him, as both hail from Nagpur and have shared benches.
Regarding Justice Chandurkar’s elevation, CJI Gavai affirmed that it was a unanimous decision made after thorough consideration of all factors.
The Bombay High Court has two benches in addition to its principal bench: one in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and the other in Nagpur. Over the years, there has been a growing demand for the establishment of a Kolhapur bench as well.
CJI Gavai expressed his support for this demand, highlighting the challenges faced by individuals who cannot afford the costs of traveling to Mumbai for legal representation.
He noted,
“To get justice to the man standing at the last mile was important and thus, there has to be decentralisation of the judicial system,”
He concluded by mentioning that with only about six months left in his tenure, he felt it was appropriate to share an anecdote regarding an order he wrote concerning the control of the Sai Baba Trust by politicians.