'Religion had no role in my perception... judges must tune out social media'

Outgoing Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai spoke to HT about his tenure, the powers of the CJI, judicial appointments, transfers, dissent, the impact of social media, the stray dogs and pollution issues, and his philosophy on bail and liberty.

- Utkarsh Anand

What will be your most lasting institutional contribution?

I think, taking the entire court as a whole and departing from the criticism that the Supreme Court is a CJI-centric court, would be one of the most important things that should be remembered during my tenure. No doubt, there have been earlier CJIs like Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Uday U Lalit who had also taken their colleagues on board. I also believe that in the Supreme Court, the CJI is only the first amongst equals and the court has to be carried forward with all the colleagues taken on board. So whatever decisions on the administrative side I took were always after consulting the full house.

What shaped your decision to introduce reservations in the SC registry?

Now you see that reservations are everywhere. Even for Parliament, there is reservation. In all the state services there is reservation; for services like IAS, IFS, IPS, there is reservation. No doubt, reservation is not to be there for the constitutional posts like the high court judges or the Supreme Court judges, but there is no reason as to why the affirmative action should not be applicable even for the staff, ministerial staff. I was really somewhat surprised that there is no reservation provided, there is no roster provided for the highest judicial institution in the country, which has so far given so many important decisions on affirmative action. That awareness and that contrast shaped both the personal and institutional thinking behind the decision.

Did being the first CJI from the Buddhist community shape your view on representation?