Justice Gavai Bids Farewell After Authoring 464 Supreme Court Judgments

Justice B.R. Gavai, one of the most prolific judges of the current era, retired and demitted office as the Chief Justice of India on November 23, 2025. During his nearly six-and-a-half-year tenure in the Supreme Court, Justice Gavai authored 464 judgments and served on 772 benches.

Averaging more than 70 judgments per year, Justice Gavai was elevated to the apex court on May 13, 2019. His successor, Justice Surya Kant, took oath as the new Chief Justice of India on November 24, following Gavai’s retirement. Justice Kant, who was appointed to the Supreme Court on the same day as Justice Gavai, has so far authored 293 judgments, with an annual average of around 45.

Year by year, Gavai’s workload and productivity saw fluctuations. In his first year, he wrote 42 judgments from 63 benches, registering an authorship rate of 66 per cent, Supreme Court Observer reported. By 2022, he reached his peak annual judgment count at 98, with an authorship rate of 71 per cent. In his final year, he delivered 70 rulings. Despite variations, his authorship rate never dropped below 50 per cent. 

According to Manupatra data, Criminal law formed the largest share of his judgements with 154 rulings, followed by 53 in service law, 44 in civil matters, 34 on direct taxation, and 26 on property issues. Gavai’s tenure, numerically robust, also stood out in context. His 6.5 years on the bench exceed the current average tenure of 5.1 years among sitting judges.

His retirement closes a period marked not just by volume, but by consistency across complex legal terrain.