Assam: Justice Ujjal Bhuyan appointed as Supreme Court judge by Central Government

The Central government has given its approval on July 12 for the appointment of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and SV Bhatti as judges of the Supreme Court. The development was confirmed by Minister of State for Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, who shared the news via a tweet.

The tweet stated, "In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, the Hon’ble President, after consultation with the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint the following 02 Chief Justices of High Courts as Judges of the Supreme Court of India - Justice Ujjal Bhuyan; Justice SV Bhatti."

The recommendation for their elevation to the Supreme Court was made by the Supreme Court Collegium on July 5, and the government has now cleared their appointments.

Justice Ujjal Bhuyan is currently serving as the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court. His parent High Court is the Gauhati High Court. Justice Bhuyan was appointed as a judge of the Gauhati High Court on October 17, 2011. He holds the position of senior-most judge in his parent High Court and has been serving as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court since June 28, 2022.

Justice SV Bhatti, on the other hand, is currently the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court. He was initially appointed as a judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on April 12, 2013, and is the senior-most judge in his parent High Court. He was later transferred to the Kerala High Court in March 2019 and has been serving as Chief Justice there since June 1, 2023.

The Collegium resolution noted the absence of representation from the Andhra Pradesh High Court in the Supreme Court since August 2022. Currently, the Supreme Court is functioning with a strength of 30 judges, while the sanctioned strength is 34. With the appointment of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and SV Bhatti, the strength of the apex court will rise to 32 judges.