NEW DELHI: 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. Once the two judges take oath, its working strength will go up to 32, leaving two vacancies.
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 HC since June 28, 2022.
Justice Bhatti was appointed as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh high court on April 12 and is the senior-most in his parent high court.