JOIN USSenior advocate Indu Malhotra was on Friday administered the oath of office as a Supreme Court judge by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, making her the first woman lawyer to enter the top court directly.
With her, the strength of judges in Supreme Court is now 25, against the sanctioned strength of 31, including the CJI.
Indu, 61, was administered the oath of office and secrecy in a ceremony held at the Chief Justice's court, attended by all judges of the top court and her family members. Immediately thereafter, she heard cases in the bench presided over by the CJI.
This would be the third occasion in the 67-year history of the Supreme Court when it has two sitting women judges together — the first being Justices Gyan Sudha Misra and Ranjana Prakash Desai, then Justices Ranjana and R Banumathi and now Justices Banumathi and Indu.
Indu's name was recommended by the Collegium in January for elevation along with that of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K M Joseph. The Centre, however, sought reconsideration on the name of Justice Joseph.
Indu would be the seventh woman judge in the top court since independence.
She joined the legal profession in 1983 in Delhi. Indu was one of the members of the Vishaka Committee on sexual harassment at workplace and was also part of a 10-member committee constituted by the top court to deal with complaints of sexual harassment within the court.
Bengaluru-born Indu was designated senior advocate by the top court in 2007.