President Murmu appoints Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Venkatanarayana Bhatti as Supreme Court judges

Justice Bhuyan will be a judge of Supreme Court till August 2, 2029, and Justice Bhatti will have a tenure till May 6, 2027. Justice Bhuyan will be senior to Justice Bhatti.

At the time of their recommendations for elevation as Supreme court judges, Justice Bhuyan was Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, and Justice Venkatanarayana Bhatti was the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court.

With the appointment of the two judges and their subsequent oath taking, the number of judges in the country’s top court will go up to 32, as against its sanctioned strength of 34 judges.

The last two judges to be elevated to Supreme Court were Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice KV Viswanathan. They were elevated as judge of the top court on 19 May.

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Collegium’s recommendation

The five-judge Collegium of the Supreme Court — comprising of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant — had on 5 July unanimously recommended the appointment of Justice Bhuyan and Justice Venkatanarayana Bhatti, as judges of the Supreme Court.

At the time of the recommendation of their names for elevation to top court, the Supreme Court had 31 judges as against its sanctioned strength of 34 judges. Justice Krishna Murari retired subsequently, on 8 July.

Justice Ujjal Bhuyan

Justice Ujjal Bhuyan was first appointed as a judge of the Gauhati High Court on 17 October, 2011 and was the seniormost judge of his parent high court. Justice Bhuyan has also served as a judge of the Bombay High Court. He was appointed the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court on 28 June, 2022.

Justice Bhuyan, who is known for his integrity and competence, has dealt with a wide spectrum of cases and has acquired experience in diverse fields of law, with a specialisation and domain knowledge in taxation law.

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Justice Venkatanarayana Bhatti

Justice Venkatanarayana Bhatti was appointed as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on 12 April, 2013 and was the seniormost judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court — his parent high court — which has had no representation in the top court since August 2022.

Justice Venkatanarayana Bhatti was transferred to Kerala High Court in March 2019 and was serving as its Chief Justice since 1 June.

During his long tenure as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court and subsequently as judge and then Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, Justice Venkatanarayana Bhatti made significant contributions with his knowledge and experience.

Justice Bhatti has considerable experience in various branches of law. The judgements authored by him law stand testimony to his legal acumen and competence.