The time had come when a woman should be the Chief Justice of India says SA Bobde, Chief Justice of India. He also said there was no need for a change of attitude of the collegium to ensure greater representation of women in the judiciary.
Many eminently qualified woman lawyers decline invitations to become high court judges, citing domestic responsibilities, especially children's education, says Bobde while explaining the low number of women judges in high courts.
This remark was made by the CJI, who was sitting on a bench with Justices Sanjay K Kaul and Surya Kant, during the hearing of a petition filed by the Supreme Court Women Lawyers' Association, which sought equal representation of women among HC judges. Just 661 high court judges are in force, compared to a sanctioned strength of 1,080, including 73 women judges (11 percent ).
Delhi-based advocate-on-record Anindita Pujari said that there was a need for the collegium to take corrective measures to make it more inclusive.
“Maybe as a transitional measure, the collegium must look at the age bracket for women subjectively. Marriage, maternity are breaks in careers of women lawyers and by the time they have a settled practice some high courts consider them too old for elevation," she said.
Appearing for the association, advocate Sneha Kalita said, “There is not even a whisper in the Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of judges about the appointment of women advocates as judges of high courts.”
The CJI said, “If there is no mention of women in the MoP, there is also no mention of other vulnerable sections of society. But when we sit in a collegium, we deliberate on the suitability of women advocates, judicial officers as well as advocates and judicial officers of vulnerable classes for appointment as HC judges.
When senior advocate Vikas Singh and advocate Shobha pointed out that even after 71 years of working of the Constitution, India did not have a woman CJI, Justice Bobde said, “It is time we select a woman judge to the SC who would become the CJI. The time for a woman CJI has come.”
The Delhi High Court Women Lawyers’ Forum also tweeted, "We are ready and more than happy to take this responsibility and serve the institution."
Since the prohibition on women entering the legal profession was repealed in 1923, more women entered the field. Fathima Beevi (1987), Sujata Manohar, Ruma Pal, Gyan Sudha Mishra, Ranjana Desai, R Banumathi, Indu Malhotra, and Indira Banerjee are the only eight women SC judges so far. Despite the fact that the Madras high court has the largest number of female judges among the HCs, there are no female judges in the HCs in the states of Manipur, Meghalaya, Bihar, Tripura, and Uttarakhand.
