Centre Clears Appointment Of Telangana, Kerala HC Chief Justices As Supreme Court Judges

The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the appointment of the High Court judges to the top court.

Centre Clears Appointment Of Telangana, Kerala HC Chief Justices As Supreme Court Judges

The Centre on Wednesday cleared the appointment of Telangana High Court Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Kerala High Court Chief Justice SV Bhatti as judges of the Supreme Court of India, reported news agency ANI. The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the appointment of the High Court judges to the top court. The collegium consisting of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai and Surya Kant took the decision in a meeting on July 5 and the resolution was uploaded on the apex court website.

Centre notifies the appointment of Telangana High Court Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Kerala High Court Chief Justice SV Bhatti as judges of the Supreme Court of India

— ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2023

With the new appointement, the strenght of the Supreme Court will increase to 32 judges out of the sanctioned strength of 34 judges.

Justice Bhuyan will have a term till August 2, 2029, while Justice Bhatti will finish his service as a SC judge on May 6, 2027.

Justice Ujjal Bhuyan's parent High Court is the Gauhati High Court. He was appointed as the judge of the Gauhati HC on October 17, 2011. Bhuyan 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 last year.

“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 said in its resolution.

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