In a deeply personal and historic address at Oxford University, Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai reflected on his journey from a marginalised background to holding the highest position in India’s judiciary — and the role the Constitution played in making it possible.
Justice Gavai began by recalling a time when millions in India were labelled “untouchables,” excluded from society and silenced. “They were told they were impure. They were told they did not belong. But here we are today,” he said, “where a person belonging to those very people is speaking openly, as the holder of the highest office in the judiciary of the country.”
Referencing scholar Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and her famous essay Can the Subaltern Speak?, Justice Gavai offered a powerful reflection:
“Yes, the subaltern can speak — and they have been speaking all along. The question is no longer whether they can speak, but whether society is truly listening.”
He praised the Indian Constitution as a document that goes beyond law — calling it “a feeling, a lifeline, a quiet revolution etched in ink.” He added that for him, the Constitution has been a guiding force throughout his journey — from attending a municipal school to becoming the Chief Justice.
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