The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Wednesday recommended to the Centre 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 apex court.
The revamped collegium, having Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai and Surya Kant, took the decision in its first meeting on Wednesday. Justice Gavai and Justice Kant are new entrants to the collegium.
The Supreme Court has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges but is currently functioning with 31 after the retirement of three judges last month.
Noting that the apex court has three vacancies, the collegium said it is imperative to take steps to fill them up with a view to augmenting the working judge-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 courts eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court.
"Judgments authored by those falling in the zone of consideration for elevation to the Supreme Court were circulated among the members of the collegium, well in advance, for a meaningful discussion on and assessment of their judicial acumen. The Centre for Research & Planning of the Supreme Court has prepared a compilation of relevant background material to assist the Collegium," the resolution uploaded on the apex court website said.
Born on August 2, 1964, Justice Bhuyan was appointed as a judge of the Gauhati high court on October 17, 2011 and is the senior-most judge of his parent high court (Gauhati). He is serving as the chief justice of the Telangana high court since June 28, 2022.
"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.
Justice Bhatti, who was born on May 6, 1962, 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.
The collegium noted that the high court of Andhra Pradesh does not have any representation on the bench of the Supreme Court since August 2022.
Justice Bhatti was transferred to the high court of Kerala in March 2019 and is serving as the chief justice there since June 1, 2023.
"During his long tenure as a judge of the high court of Andhra 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 collegium said.
The resolution said while making its recommendations the collegium has taken into consideration the seniority of chief justices and senior puisne judges in their respective parent high courts as well as the overall seniority of the high court judges.
It has also taken into account the merit, performance and integrity of the judges under consideration, the need to ensure diversity and inclusion in the apex court, representation of high courts which are not represented or are inadequately represented, in the top court, appointment of persons from marginalised and backward segments of society, gender diversity as well as representation of minorities.
