Days after their names were recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium, two high court chief justices were on Wednesday elevated as judges of the Supreme Court.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal announced the appointments of judges Ujjal Bhuyan and S Venkatanarayana Bhatti on Twitter.

The names of Justice Bhuyan, the chief justice of the Telangana High Court, and Justice Bhatti, his counterpart in Kerala, were recommended for elevation to the top court by the Supreme Court Collegium on July 5.

The Supreme Court has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges, including the chief justice, but is functioning with 30.

Once the two judges take oath, the working strength of the apex court will go up to 32, leaving two vacancies.

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 had said while recommending his name.

Justice Bhatti, who was born on May 6, 1962, was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on April 12 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 Kerala High Court in March 2019 and is serving as the chief justice there since June 1.

"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.

"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 had 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.

Referring to the recent elevation of justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan to the apex court, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud had said on Tuesday that the appointments made within 72 hours have sent the nation a message that the Collegium is vibrant, active, and committed to its task.

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