Womens Judges in Supreme Court

• IAS NEXT, Lucknow
• 16, Dec 2021

Reference News-

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana has promised to take up with the Supreme Court Collegium the demand for more women judges.

Status of women in Indian judiciary:

• In the 71 years of history of the SC, there have been only eight women judges — the first was Justice Fathima Beevi, who was elevated to the bench after a long gap of 39 years from the date of establishment of the SC.
• There are only 80 women judges out of the sanctioned strength of 1,113 judges in the High Courts and the Supreme Court.
• There are six High Courts — Manipur, Meghalaya, Patna, Tripura, Telangana, and Uttarakhand — where there are no sitting women judges.

Benefits of diversity and gender representation in Supreme court:

1. The entry of women judges into spaces from which they had historically been excluded has been a positive step in the direction of judiciaries being perceived as being more transparent, inclusive, and representative.
2. By their mere presence, women judges enhance the legitimacy of courts, sending a powerful signal that they are open and accessible to those who seek recourse to justice.
3. They could contribute far more to justice than improving its appearance: they also contribute significantly to the quality of decision-making, and thus to the quality of justice itself.
4. By elucidating how laws and rulings can be based on gender stereotypes, or how they might have a different impact on women and men, a gender perspective enhances the fairness of the adjudication.
5. Women judges bring those lived experiences to their judicial actions, experiences that tend toward a more comprehensive and empathetic perspective.
6. Improving the representation of women could go a long way towards a more balanced and empathetic approach in cases involving sexual violence.

Challenges to women’s entry into judiciary:

• A major barrier to women’s recruitment as district judges are the eligibility criteria to take the entrance exams.
• Lawyers need to have seven years of continuous legal practice and be in the age bracket of 35-45.
• This is a disadvantage for women as many are married by this age.
• Further, the long and inflexible work hours in law, combined with familial responsibilities, force many women to drop out of practice and they fail to meet the requirement of continuous practice.