CJI DY Chandrachud truly believes in women empowerment; long tenure will provide opportunity to work on his ideas: Justice BR Gavai

Supreme Court judge Justice BR Gavai last week said that Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud truly believes in the cause of women empowerment and his long tenure as the CJI would provide him the opportunity to work on his ideas..Justice Gavai was speaking at a function organised by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa to felicitate the CJI. "He has two foster children both of whom were his help’s children. They have special needs. The Registrar in Supreme Court who looks after the medical aspects, also exclaimed once that “What CJI does for the girls, none else do even for their own children”. He is someone who believes in women empowerment."In lighter vein, Justice Gavai also expressed disappointment that he has not yet gotten the opportunity to be part of a bench with the CJI."When I was being considered for elevation, it was Justice Bobde and CJI (Chandrachud) who recommended. I never got to sit with him on a bench. I wish someday I can sit on a Constitution bench with him. I do not mind sitting as a junior judge with him!"Both CJI Chandrachud and Justice Gavai hail from the Bombay High Court before they became Supreme Court judges. .Justice Gavai added that it was a matter of pride that a son-of-the-soil (Maharashtra) was the CJI, saying he would benefit from a long tenure. He pointed out that the Supreme Court has seen a higher disposal rate than case filing rate after Justice Chandrachud took over as the CJI..Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court Sanjay Vijaykumar Gangapurwala, Maharashtra Advocate General (AG) Dr. Birendra Saraf and Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh also spoke on the occasion. Singh claimed that CJI was a fitting example for the phrase "action speak louder than words". He spoke of how Justice Chandrachud as a judge had always been supportive to his juniors and always had a pleasant demeanour.The AG, who was a junior to the CJI when Justice Chandrachud was a lawyer before the Bombay High Court, endorsed the same and said on a lighter note that with such strong encouragement to juniors, their opposing senior lawyers would wish to have been a junior themselves. A fitting felicitation by lawyers would be to play an active role in the administration of justice, the AG said.Justice Gangapurwala said that the CJI's tenure would be momentous, and told the lawyers present that the proper way to felicitate him would be by making courts fully paperless. .Read what CJI said about paying junior lawyers here.Read what CJI said about make judgments available in regional languages here.Read what CJI said about access to legal education and profession here. .[Follow our coverage of the event]