New Delhi: Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai will take the oath as the next Chief Justice of India on May 14, a day after incumbent Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna retires.

As per tradition, the Chief Justice has sent a proposal to the Union Law Ministry, naming Justice Gavai as his successor. The ministry had earlier sought the Chief Justice's proposal naming his successor.

Justice Gavai will be the Chief Justice of India for about six months as he is due to retire in November. He will be the second Dalit to hold the Chief Justice post after Justice KG Balakrishnan, who was elevated to the country's top judicial post in 2007.

Hailing from Maharashtra's Amravati, Justice Gavai joined the Bar in 1985 and worked with barrister Raja Bhonsale, former Advocate General and Judge of the Maharashtra High Court. He then practised independently at the Bombay High Court from 1987 to 1990.