Former Chief Justice of India BR Gavai did not use the official black Mercedes-Benz car when he left the Rashtrapati Bhavan after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant took oath, sources said.
Justice Gavai's decision to take a personal vehicle on his way home instead of the official one indicated he wanted to ensure his successor got an official vehicle right from day one.
"After the oath ceremony, Justice Gavai left the official vehicle designated for the Chief Justice and returned in an alternative vehicle from the Rashtrapati Bhavan, ensuring that the official car is available for use by his successor for going to the Supreme Court," a source said.
Justice Gavai superannuated on Sunday. He told reporters at his official home on Sunday that he would not accept any post-retirement assignments.
"I made it clear when I took office that I am not going to accept any post-retirement official assignment. For the next 9-10 days, it's a cooling-off period. After that, a new innings," he said.
President Droupadi Murmu administered oath to Chief Justice Surya Kant at a brief ceremony today. He will serve for nearly 15 months.
Vice President CP Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the oath ceremony.
Before he retired, Chief Justice Gavai defended the collegium system for appointing judges, made a strong case of exclusion of affluent people from Scheduled Caste quota, and regretted not appointing any women judges during his tenure in the Supreme Court.
Most importantly, despite being a Dalit himself, he defended his views on the introduction of a creamy layer concept to exclude affluent people amongst the Scheduled Castes from quota benefits, he said.
"If benefits go repeatedly to the same families, a class within a class emerges. Reservation must reach those who truly need it. If a chief secretary's son or the child of a landless labourer working in a village... has to compete with the son of an IAS or an IPS officer... would it be on an equal platform?" he asked.
Chief Justice Surya Kant began the day's official proceedings in courtroom number 1 in the Supreme Court along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Atul S Chandurkar on the bench. This marked the beginning of his nearly 15-month tenure as the head of the nation's judiciary.
During his tenure in the Supreme Court, Justice Kant has been associated with several landmark rulings, including those on the scrapping of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, the Pegasus spyware matter, free speech, citizenship rights, and electoral roll reforms.
Before his elevation to the Supreme Court, he served as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and earlier delivered several significant judgments at the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
