CJI Bobde: Women lawyers have declined judgeship stating domestic obligations

Aryan Grover

A division bench of the Supreme Court, comprising of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, in the hearing of an application filed by the Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association, stated that many women lawyers have declined the offer for judgeship citing domestic responsibilities.

 Chief Justice Bobde said, “Chief Justices of High courts have stated that many women advocates, when invited to come as judges, declined the offer citing domestic responsibilities about children studying in Class 12 etc.”  

Justice Kaul affirmed the observations made by the Chief Justice.

The application filed by the Supreme Court Women Lawyers Associations sought directions to consider meritorious women advocates’ appointment to the post of judge in High Courts.

The application seeks to intervene in the case M/s PLR Projects Pvt Ltd v Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd and others where the Supreme Court is considering the issue of vacancies of the judge posts in High Courts.

The Association has highlighted the “abysmally low” representation of women in the higher judiciary.

The Association has referred to Articles 14 and 15(3) of the Constitution, demanding for higher representation of women after giving due weightage to their merit, and stated,“The Association has a deep concern regarding adequate representation of women in Indian Higher Judiciary. The women’s participation in justice delivery system is an important factor for the societal progress and gender equality which would further reflect the country’s commitment towards these cardinal issues.”

The CJI, however, stated that, “We have the interest of women in our mind. We are implementing it in best way possible. No attitudinal change is required. Only that we need capable candidates.”

 The figures presented to support this cause reflect this picture: Only 8 women judges have ever been appointed in the Supreme Court. There has never been a woman Chief Justice of India.

Only one out of the 25 High Courts in the country has a woman Chief Justice (Justice Hima Kohli of Telangana High Court). Only 73 out of 661 High Court judges are women.

There is not even a single woman judge in the High Courts of Manipur, Meghalaya, Patna, Tripura, and Uttarakhand.

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