Closing the gender gap in the higher judiciary

Syllabus: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary

Source: TH

Context

The Indian judiciary has witnessed notable progress in women’s representation over the past century, starting with Cornelia Sorabji becoming India’s first woman lawyer in 1924. However, despite increased participation in the legal profession, women remain significantly underrepresented in the Supreme Court and High Courts, reflecting systemic inequalities and procedural opacity.

Current Status of Women in the Higher Judiciary

• High Courts: Women account for only 14.27% of judges (109 out of 764). Several High Courts, including Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, and Tripura, have no women judges. The Allahabad High Court, India’s largest High Court, has just 3 women judges out of 79 (approximately 2%).

• Supreme Court: The top court currently has only two women judges — Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Bela Trivedi. With Justice Bela Trivedi’s impending retirement in June 2025, the Supreme Court will be left with only one woman judge.

• Age Disparity: Women judges are appointed at an average age of 53, while men are appointed at an average age of 51.8, reducing their prospects of reaching seniority or leadership roles.

• Leadership Deficit: Out of 25 High Courts, only the Gujarat High Court has a woman Chief Justice.

Challenges Leading to Gender Imbalance

• Systemic Inequality: Women lawyers face heightened scrutiny in judicial appointments. While men’s merit is often presumed, women are frequently required to prove their competence to a greater degree.

• Opaque Collegium System: The collegium lacks clear eligibility criteria and fails to ensure gender-inclusive recommendations. This opacity disproportionately affects women candidates.

• Gender Bias in Recommendations: Since 2020, nine women recommended for High Court judgeships were not confirmed by the government. Among these, five were the only names rejected in their respective lists, underscoring systemic bias.

• Limited Elevation from the Bar: Over 75 years, only one woman has been elevated directly from the Bar to the Supreme Court, whereas nine men have been elevated via this route.

• Institutional Barriers: Women lawyers face fewer networking opportunities, insufficient mentorship, and limited access to senior roles, reinforcing exclusion from higher judicial positions.

Significance of Greater Women’s Representation

• Enhances Judicial Legitimacy: A gender-balanced judiciary enhances inclusivity and aligns courts with the diverse socio-economic realities they adjudicate.

• Improved Decision-Making: Greater diversity promotes balanced perspectives and fosters judgments that are more reflective of ground realities.

• Strengthens Public Trust: Women’s presence on the Bench signals greater fairness and impartiality, improving citizens’ trust in judicial processes.

• Encourages Gender-Sensitive Jurisprudence: Women judges are more likely to influence cases involving gender rights, family law, and sexual violence, enriching the court’s approach to justice delivery.

Way forward for achieving gender parity

• Transparent Collegium process: The collegium must establish clear criteria for judicial appointments, including a structured application process for women lawyers to express their interest.

• Mandatory gender representation: The judiciary must institutionalize a policy ensuring that at least one-third of judges in the higher judiciary are women.

• Merit-based selection with diversity: Diversity and merit must be seen as complementary, ensuring selection is based on excellence and integrity while prioritizing gender inclusion.

• Mentorship and leadership support: Dedicated programs to mentor and train women lawyers for leadership roles will help break systemic barriers.

• Review of rejected recommendations: The government must adopt a policy requiring clear explanations when rejecting candidates recommended by the collegium, especially women.

Conclusion Achieving gender parity in the higher judiciary is vital to upholding constitutional values of equality, inclusiveness, and justice. As Justice Indira Banerjee rightly emphasized, women’s appointments must become normalized rather than celebrated as exceptional. By ensuring a transparent, merit-driven, and gender-conscious appointment process, India’s higher judiciary can better reflect the diverse society it serves.

• Discuss the desirability of greater representation to women in the higher judiciary to ensure diversity, equity and inclusiveness. (10 M) (2021)