Women lawyers' body move Supreme Court for due representation in higher judiciary

The Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association has approached the top court seeking adequate representation in the higher judiciary, saying women’s participation in the justice delivery system is an important factor for societal progress and gender equality.

In an application, they pointed towards a dismal representation of women as judges in the Supreme Court and the High Courts.

Amongst the 1,080 sanctioned posts of judges (including both permanent and additional judges), 661 posts are occupied, of which only 73 are women judges, accounting for just 11.04 per cent, they said.

Giving a chart, they said the Madras High Court with 13 female judges had the distinction of having the highest number of women judges.

However, out of 25 High Courts, five High Courts namely Manipur High Court, Meghalaya High Court, Patna High Court, Tripura High Court and Uttarakhand High Court did not have a single woman judge as of date. "In the largest democracy where the female-male ratio is still a debatable issue, women need to be protected from female foeticide, assault, domestic violence, trafficking, matrimonial disputes and women’s right to property and so many other female-oriented issues. Thus, a larger representation of women would further advance the cause of justice in this regard as well," their plea said.

The application drafted by advocate Sneha Kalita and settled by senior advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani and advocate Shobha Gupta asked the top court to consider meritorious women lawyers practicing in the Supreme Court and High Courts for appointment of judges in High Courts. The association sought to intervene in a pending matter related to the appointment of judges in the higher judiciary.

It also sought a direction to the Union government to incorporate in the memorandum of procedures the provisions for consideration of appointment of women judges in High Court. It also prayed for issuing direction to the Secretary, Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India to expedite the process of inclusion and appointment of women judges on the meritorious ground to the Supreme Court and High Court benches.

They also pointed out since independence, there have been only eight women judges in the Supreme Court out of total of 247 judges appointed so far. Of the total 25 High Courts, only Telangana High Court has a woman Chief Justice Hima Kohli.