The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended on May 17 the elevation of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, presently the second-most senior judge in the Telangana High Court, as the court’s new Chief Justice.
The collegium has recommended the transfer of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, the present incumbent, to the Delhi High Court as its Chief Justice.
After obtaining his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the Government Law College, Guwahati, and his Master of Laws (LLM) from Gauhati University, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan enrolled at the Bar in 1991 and practised before the Principal Seat of the Gauhati High Court at Guwahati and appeared before the Agartala, Shillong, Kohima and Itanagar Benches of the Gauhati High Court. He also practised before the Central Administrative Tribunal, Guwahati Bench, and the Assam Board of Revenue.
Besides being a Standing Counsel of the Income Tax Department for 16 years, Justice Bhuyan was also the Additional Government Advocate, Meghalaya, in the Principal Seat of the Gauhati High Court from April 2002 to October 2006. A former Additional Advocate General of Assam, he was elevated as Additional Judge of the Gauhati High Court in October 2011 and was made a permanent judge in March 2013.
Justice Bhuyan, whose parent court is the Gauhati High Court, was transferred to the Bombay High Court in 2019. His transfer had led to protests at the Gauhati High Court on the grounds that he would occupy only the 15th place in the seniority list of judges in the Bombay High Court whereas he was the third senior most judge in the Gauhati High Court. He was transferred to the Telangana High Court in October 202. He has also been closely associated with the Judicial Academy, Assam, and National Law University, Guwahati.
He will be the fifth Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court after its separation from the combined Andhra Pradesh High Court on January 1, 2019.
Interestingly, the incumbent Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma was sworn in only last October. Justice Sharma had been serving as the interim Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court before the Supreme Court Collegium recommended his transfer to Telangana.
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