Justice UL Bhat, Former Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh And Gauhati High Courts Passes Away

Justice UL Bhat, former Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh And Gauhati High Courts passed away at 7.30 pm today at New Delhi.

He was selected as Munsif in 1961 by the Kerala Public Service Commission but the State government refused to appoint him in government service for political reasons.

In 1968, High Court of Kerala selected him for the post of District and Sessions Judge and was appointed as the District and Sessions Judge by the State Government in 1970 and served in that capacity till 1980.

In 1980, he was appointed as the Judge of the High Court of Kerala and in 1991 was appointed as Acting Chief Justice in that High Court. He was also appointed as the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court and functioned as such till December, 1993.

He was transferred as Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh. He retired in the month of October, 1995. After his retirement, he was appointed as President, Customs, Excise and Gold Control Appellate Tribunal (CEGAT), New Delhi, where he served for the next three years. He was also designated as Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court of India.

Remembering Justice UL  Bhat,  Justice V  Ramkumar told LiveLaw that Justice Bhat was the Colossus of Indian Judiciary.

"News about the demise of Justice U.L.Bhat in the night of 6th June,  is indeed sad and shocking. He was the Colossus of Indian Judiciary as far as we were concerned. Apart from being brilliant and exceptionally erudite, he was a man of outstanding qualities. Justice Bhat was more loved through reverence than through any other bond of affection. Besides being quickwitted, he had a razor sharp intellect. He was forthright in his views , never minced words and had the courage of his own convictions. Some of his comments and remarks made both inside and outside Court were so apt and calculating that they produced different impulses in different persons.As a Judge, he excelled in all jurisdictions. His lectures in the Kerala Judicial Academy were unforgettable theorems. I had the privilege of arguing even complicated civil cases before him and he had the rare quality of comprehending the facts and law with remarkable felicity and elegance.

He deserved to adorn the seat of the Supreme Court, by any standards. It is really a loss for the country", said Justice Ramkumar

Read more  about him here