A TRIBUTE TO JUSTICE U.L. BHAT
U.L. Bhat, former Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court and Madhya Pradesh High Court, is no more. He left for his heavenly abode on June 6, 2024, in New Delhi, due to his old age. The late Bhat was born in 1933 in Ullal Village, near Mangalore. He studied in Vazianagarm, Andhra Pradesh, completed his law degree from Madras College in 1954, and was enrolled as an advocate before the Chief Justices Bench in Madras High Court in 1955. He joined the chambers of the late B.S. Kakkillaya, a doyen of Bar. In 1961, he was selected as Munsiff by the Kerala Public Commission, but the state government refused to appoint him for political reasons. In 1968, the late Bhat was selected as district and session judge by the Kerala High Court and joined in the said post in 1970. In the year 1980, he was appointed as a judge by the Kerala High Court, and in 1991, he was appointed as acting chief justice of the same court. Thereafter, Justice Bhat was appointed Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court in 1993 and later transferred to the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 1995. After retirement from the Madhya Pradesh High Court, he was appointed as President of the Customs, Excise, and Gold Control Appellate Tribunal for the next 3 years. He was designated as a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India. He settled down in Bengaluru and appeared in the Karnataka High Court occasionally. As Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court, he passed several landmark judgments. He had always been active in continuing education for members of the judiciary. He rejuvenated the North-Eastern Judicial Official Institute, Guwahati. He established the same kind of office in Jabbalpur and Kerala. He also served as a designated professor at the National Judiciary Academy, Bhupal, and delivered lectures as a resource person at the National Judiciary Academy. He launched a bi-monthly journal in Jabbalpur. He was 91 years old at the time of his demise. He was one of the pioneers of Lok Adalat in the North Eastern Region and actively participated in Lok Adalat held at different places. The late Bhat was a man of strict principles, versatile, genious, and vocal against injustice. His death news cast a pale of gloom among the legal fraternity, and it was condoled by the Gauhati High Court and other outlines of the Gauhati High Court. His death is a huge loss that can never be compensated for.
In connection with Shraddha ceremony I pay my homage to the departed soul.
Subhash Chandra Biswas
Guwahati
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