Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud on July 14 administered the oath of office to Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice S. Venkatanarayana Bhatti as judges of the Supreme Court.
Justice Bhuyan, appointed as a judge of the Gauhati High Court on October 17, 2011, had been serving as the Chief Justice Telangana since June 28 last year.
“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 resolution had read.
Justice Bhatti was appointed as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on April 12, 2013. The Collegium had explained its choice of Justice Bhatti, saying the High Court of Andhra Pradesh did 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. He had been serving as Chief Justice there since June 1, 2023.
The Collegium had noted that Justice Bhatti’s judgments dealt with a myriad range of issues from multiple branches of law, and “stand testimony to his legal acumen and competence”.
With the swearing-in of Justices Bhuyan and Bhatti, the working strength of judges in the Supreme Court has risen to 32 against the sanctioned strength of 34, including the CJI.
(With inputs from PTI)
