Collegium recommends the name for the elevation of Chief Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and SV Bhatti as Supreme Court judges

On July 5, 2023, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended the elevation of two Chief Justices of two High Courts as judges of the Supreme Court. The recommended names are Chief Justice of Telangana High Court Ujjal Bhuyan and Chief Justice of Kerala High Court S. Venkatanarayana Bhatti. The Collegium members made recommendations, constituting Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice BR Gavai, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, and Justice Surya Kant. In a resolution published on July 5, the Collegium noted “The Supreme Court of India has a sanctioned strength of thirty-four Judges and is presently functioning with thirty-one Judges. Thus, there are three clear vacancies. That makes it imperative for the Collegium to take steps to fill up the vacancies with a view to augment the working judges' strength to take care of the backlog of cases and the large institution of fresh matters. The Collegium deliberated on and discussed the names of Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of the High Court eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court.” The Collegium recommended the aforementioned two names to the Union Government in the resolution to notify their appointment as SC judges. The resolution stated that “After carefully evaluating the merit, integrity, and competence of eligible chief justices and senior puisne Judges of the High Courts and also accommodating a plurality of consideration the collegium finds them to be deserving and suitable in all respects for being appointed as judges of the Supreme Court of India.” 

While recommending Justice Bhuyan’s name, the Collegium opined that “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 a specialization 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.” On 17 October 2011, Justice Bhuyan was appointed as a judge of the Gauhati High Court and is currently serving as the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court. Also, the Collegium while recommending Justice Bhatti’s name said that “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.” On 12 April 2013, Justice SV Bhatti was appointed as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court and is now serving as the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court.

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