The names of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, and Justice S Venkatanarayana Bhatti, his counterpart in Kerala, for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court were recommended to the Centre on Wednesday by the Supreme Court collegium led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud.
The judgment was made at the inaugural meeting of the reorganized collegium, which included Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, and Surya Kant, on Wednesday. The newest members of the collegium are Justice Gavai and Justice Kant.
Although the Supreme Court is authorized to have 34 justices, 31 are now sitting on the court as a result of the retirement of three members last month.
The collegium noted that there are three vacancies at the top court and urged action to replace them in order to increase the number of judges available to handle the backlog of cases and the substantial influx of new cases.
The collegium debated and spoke about the names of Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of the High Courts who were qualified for Supreme Court appointments.
Judgments written by individuals who could be elevated to the Supreme Court were sent to the Collegium’s members well in advance for a thorough debate and evaluation of their jurisprudence. According to the resolution posted on the website of the Supreme Court, the Center for Research & Planning has put up a collection of pertinent background information to help the Collegium.
Justice Bhuyan, who was born on August 2, 1964, is the senior-most judge of the Gauhati High Court, where he was appointed as a judge on October 17, 2011. Since June 28, 2022, he has been the Telangana High Court’s chief justice.
“Mr. Justice Bhuyan has substantial knowledge in many different legal areas as a result of his lengthy service as a High Court judge. He has gained expertise and subject-matter knowledge in tax law. He has also presided over a variety of matters, including taxes, as a judge of the Bombay High Court.
“His rulings address a variety of legal and judicial concerns. The collegium said that Mr. Justice Ujjal Bhuyan is a judge with a solid reputation for competence and honesty.
The senior-most judge in his parent high court, Justice Bhatti, who was born on May 6, 1962, was appointed on April 12, 2013, to the High Court of Andhra Pradesh.
The collegium remarked that since August 2022, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh has not been represented on the Supreme Court’s bench.
Since June 1, 2023, judge Bhatti has served as the High Court of Kerala’s top judge after being relocated there in March 2019.
“Mr. Justice Bhatti has accumulated significant knowledge in a variety of legal fields throughout his lengthy tenure as a judge of the High Court of Andhra High Pradesh and as a judge and then as Chief Justice of the High Court of Kerala.
“The decisions he wrote that dealt with problems in several legal fields provide witness to his legal knowledge and expertise. In addition to serving as a representative for the State of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Justice Bhatti’s appointment will be valuable because of the expertise and experience he has amassed. He has a solid reputation, is trustworthy, and is competent, according to the Collegium.
According to the decision, the collegium considered both the total seniority of the high court judges and the seniority of the chief justices and senior puisne judges in each of their separate parent high courts when making its recommendations.
The merit, performance, and integrity of the judges under consideration have also been taken into consideration, as well as the need to ensure diversity and inclusion in the top court, representation of high courts that are underrepresented or not represented at all in the top court, the appointment of individuals from marginalized and backward segments of society, gender diversity, and minority representation.
