'Judges Are On Trial In Each Case, Must Ensure Honesty': Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan Bids Farewell To Telangana High Court

The Telangana High Court today held farewell ceremony for Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, who has been elevated as a Supreme Court judge.

In his parting speech, Chief Justice Bhuyan stressed upon the importance of public confidence in judiciary and remarked that justice must not just be done, but seen to have been done. Similarly, a judge must not just be impartial, but seem to be impartial.

"Justice is rooted in confidence. And therefore on each and every case, it is the judge who is on trial, he has to ensure that he does his job honestly and properly,” he remarked.

Justice Bhuyan started his legal profession in 1991 when he enrolled with the bar at Gauhati. He was designated as a Senior Advocate in August, 2010 and elevated to the bench of Gauhati High Court the next year. He was transferred to the Bombay High Court in 2019 and to the Telangana High Court in October 2021. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court on 28th June 2022.

Justice Bhuyan said when he joined the bar, he wondered if anybody would ever approach him for legal advice and the same when he was appointed as a judge. One day, he received a letter from Justice BP Saraf, who was a friend of his father and the former Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir, saying “never be a negative judge” and the same had a telling impact on him.

He also shared an anecdote from his initial days as a judge, wherein he had studied files before hand and made a note of which cases were to be dismissed. He said that when he went to Court the next day, the arguments of the lawyer were so good that he not only issued notice but also granted interim stay. He said “One must go through the papers but never close your mind.”

He remarked that an individual approaches the Court as “dire and last resort” and lawyers must treat litigants with dignity. “There are legitimate expectations of every litigant, that his case will be decided fairly and disposed off within a reasonable period. As we often say, that what is reasonable will depend on the facts and circumstances of case, however a reasonable estimate should be given,” Justice Bhuyan said.

He went on to say “The high Court is not a collection of judges, it is an institution of which the Bench and the bar and I would like to add the Public are all integral parts, with their own traditions and ideals, which have inspired them, and standards, which have been maintained.”

He added that courtesy breeds courtesy and although there should be an open dialogue between the Bench and the Bar, both should treat each other with respect. That respect is earned by conduct and there is no place for arrogance in the Court. “The Court is just dialogue and debate of which civility and occasional humour is the norm.”

Justice Buyan also thanked his family and every member of his Court staff. He said he never felt like an outsider in Hyderabad, and anytime he came to Hyderabad, it felt like coming back home.

“Nothing is permanent; the only thing that is permanent is the institution. It has been a rollercoaster ride for me, from North to the South and now again South to the North. There is no full-stop; no roster is big or small. Perfection is nothing but a mirage, no human is perfect, and there is yet to be a judge born who is perfect. I am extremely happy that destiny has bought me to this esteemed institution and I could be part of its recorded history.”

Advocate General for the State of Telangana B.S. Prasad addressed Justice Bhuyan on behalf of the legal fraternity of Telangana. He thanked Justice Bhuyan for the initiatives he had taken for the progress of the Telangana High Court some of them including: allowing hybrid proceedings, introducing live streaming in the first Court and introducing ambulance system in the High Court.

The Advocate General further stated that during his tenure in the Telangana High Court, the Chief Justice has disposed off four thousand six eighty and two (4,682) cases, out of which 4 are full Bench, 371 were by himself sitting single, 88 were PILs, and 4,487 were disposed off through division bench.

Some of the landmark cases disposed by Justice Bhuyan are: V. Vasanta Mogli v. State of Telangana, wherein the Eunachs Act, 1329 Fasli was held unconstitutional; National Highway Authorities v. G. Narsing Rao wherein Court held that Courts will refrain from interfering with the decisions of the Highway Authorities under Article 226; and M/s Maruthi Ginning v. Pressing wherein it was held that any order or proceeding of the Debts Recovery Tribunal, Hyderabad arising from the State of Andhra Pradesh, would not confer jurisdiction on the High Court of Telangana.