Collegium recommends appointment of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan, SV Bhatti as Supreme Court judges

The Supreme Court Collegium on Wednesday recommended the elevation of two High Court Chief Justices, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice SV Bhatti as judges of the apex court..Justice Bhuyan is currently serving as the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court while Justice Bhatti is the Chief Justice of Kerala High Court. Justice Bhuyan's parent High Court is the Gauhati High Court.He was appointed as a judge of the Gauhati High Court on October 17, 2011. He is the senior-most judge of his parent High Court and has been serving as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court since June 28, 2022."Mr Justice Bhuyan has served as a judge of the Gauhati High Court and as Chief Justice of High Court for the State of Telangana. During his long tenure as a judge of the High Court Mr Justice Bhuyan has acquired significant experience in diverse fields of law. He has acquired specialisation and domain knowledge in the law of taxation. He has also served as a judge of the Bombay High Court dealing with a wide spectrum of cases including taxation. His judgments cover wide ranging issues pertaining to law and justice. Mr. Justice Ujjal Bhuyan is a judge with a good reputation for integrity and competence," the Collegium resolution said..Justice Bhatti was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on April 12, 2013 and is the senior-most in his parent High Court. He was transferred to the Kerala High Court in March 2019 and is presently serving as Chief Justice there since June 1, 2023.The Collegium resolution noted that the Andhra Pradesh High Court does not have any representation in the Supreme Court since August 2022."During his long tenure as a judge of the High Court of Andhra High Pradesh and as a Judge and subsequently as Chief Justice of the High Court of Kerala, Mr Justice Bhatti has acquired considerable experience in various branches of law. The judgments authored by him dealing with issues in various branches of law stand testimony to his legal acumen and competence. Apart from according representation to the State of Andhra Pradesh, the appointment of Mr Justice Bhatti will provide a value addition in terms of his acquired knowledge and experience. He commands a good reputation and possesses integrity and competence," the resolution said..The Supreme Court is currently functioning with a strength of 31 judges as against a sanctioned strength of 34.Justice Krishna Murari will be retiring on July 7 Friday taking the total vacancies to 4. .[Read Collegium Resolution]