SC Collegium recommends elevation of 2 HC Chief Justices

The Supreme Court Collegium on Wednesday recommended the elevation of two high court judges to the apex court. The two names recommended for elevation are: Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, currently serving as the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court and Justice SV Bhatti, Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court.

Justice Bhuyan's parent high court is the Gauhati High Court. Justice Bhatti 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.

He was transferred to the Kerala High Court in March 2019 and is currently serving as Chief Justice there since last month.


The collegium recommendation reads that Justice Bhuyan during his long tenure as a judge of the high court 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 resolution reads.

As regards Justice Bhatt, the Collegium resolution noted that the Andhra Pradesh High Court does not have any representation in the Supreme Court since August 2022.

As against the sanctioned strength of 34, the Supreme Court is currently functioning with a strength of 31 judges.