'I Respect All Religions, I Am A Truly Secular Person': CJI Gavai

Calling himself a truly secular person, Chief Justice of India BR Gavai said that he practices Buddhism, though he has not studied any religion in depth. CJI Gavai, who will retire on November 23, said he believes in all religions—Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, and Christianity.Tomorrow is CJI Gavai's last working day.“I practice Buddhism, but I do not have any depth in any religious studies. I am truly a secular person. I believe in all the religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Islam. I learned from my father, because my father was also a truly secular person. He was an ardent follower of Dr Ambedkar, and growing up with him, whenever we used to visit various places for his political functions if his friends said that 'Sir yahan chalo yahan ka dargah

famous hai, yahan ka gurudwara famous hai.' So I have been brought up that way to respect all the religions too," the CJI said, speaking at the farewell function organised for him by the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA).He said he always believed the Supreme Court should not be CJI-centric."I always believed that the Supreme Court of India should not be CJI-centric but of all the judges. Decisions were not taken by me individually but were placed before the full court and addresses. The Supreme Court is a great institution, and it is with participation of all stakeholders such as judges, the bar, the registry, and staff, that the court functions. This SCBA and SCAORA should always be taken on board where problems of bar are concerned," he said. CJI-designate Justice Surya Kant recalled his two-decade-old ties with Justice Gavai and said, "My association with Justice Gavai did not begin on May 24, 2019, when we took oath together as SC judges; but have known each other since 2 decades. We have some fond memories of our friendship. We have had the opportunity to work together on the platform of NALSA, and then in the second inning of that part, when I headed the NALSA and my brother took over as Chief Justice of India. His commitment for the common man in the street is something which is so formidable that you will find from various schemes that have been launched by NALSA and various activities on a pan-India basis that we were successfully able to launch under his dynamic leadership," CJI Kant said.Attorney General R Venkataramani hailed CJI Gavai for his “objective and statesmanlike” handling of the incident in which a lawyer Rakesh Kishore had tried to hurl a shoe at him.The AG said, "I received a large number of requests to issue sanction for prosecution against a lawyer concerned... I was in between looking at it from a narrow lens or from a different angle altogether. CJI Gavai has by all scores dealt it with high standards of objectivity and balance." SCAORA President Vipin Nair thanked CJI Gavai for taking suo moto cognizance of the issue of probe agencies like the ED summoning lawyers as part of their probe and passing orders in favour of the legal fraternity."Your suo motu cognizance of the issue of lawyers summoning will be remembered forever. The way you immediately took cognizance of our (SCAORA) letter," Nair said.