SC collegium recommends Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and S V Bhatti for elevation to apex court

Two vacancies opened up after the retirement of Justices KM Joseph and Ajay Rastogi.

The five-member collegium of the Supreme Court on July 5 recommended the name of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Venkatnarayana Bhatti for judgeship of the top court.

Bhuyan is currently the Chief Justice of Telangana High Court while Bhatti is the Chief Justice of Kerala High Court. The recommendations have been made pursuant to three retirements in the apex court in June 2023. Justices KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi and Ramasubramanian retired in June. Justice Krishna Murari is set to retire on July 8.

Bhuyan was appointed as a judge of the Gauhati High Court in 2011. The collegium recommendation notes that Bhuyan has served as a judge of the Gauhati High Court and as Chief Justice of High Court for the State of Telangana. According to the recommendations "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. "

The recommendation noted that Bhuyan is a judge with a good reputation for integrity and competence.

S Venkatanarayana Bhatti was appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on 12 April 2013.He was transferred to the High Court of Kerala in March 2019 and is presently serving as Chief Justice there since 01 June 2023.

The recommendation notes that Andhra Pradesh high court does not have any representation on the Bench of the Supreme Court since August 2022.
According to the recommendation "During his long tenure as a judge of the High Court of Andhra High 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. He commands a good reputation and possesses integrity and competence."

The collegium currently comprises CJI DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant.