More women joining the district judiciary as judges is a "sign of changing times," said Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on Friday, as he welcomed a batch of newly recruited 75 civil judges from Maharashtra who had gathered in the country's first court to observe proceedings.
The CJI announced that 42 of the 75 civil judges (junior division) are women. "We have 75 Maharashtra judges here in the back row." There are 42 ladies and 33 males in the group of 75. We also have two women among the five direct recruits for district judges. It is a sign of the times. "We now have around 40% women serving as district judges," stated Justice Chandrachud.
The Chief Justice also informed the lawyers in the courtroom that the group of 75 civil judges included national-level athletes, successful singers, painters, dancers, and other artists.
The CJI went on to say that the recent trend of more women becoming judges is promising. "This is happening across the country where there are more female judges." "They exceed 50% in some courts," he said.
Senior counsel Dushyant Dave, who was present in court to argue a separate case, praised the development and stated that comparable inclusion of women in constitutional courts would be welcomed.
The CJI accepted Dave's concerns, stating that a lawyer must have at least 15 years of experience before being appointed to a high court as a judge.
"The appointments we make today reflect what occurred 15 years ago." And we must choose from the pool that is now available. As a result, what we do now will determine how the judiciary will be 10-15 years from now," Justice Chandrachud explained.
The CJI also notified the lawyers that, for the first time in its seven-decade history, the Supreme Court has appointed an interpreter to help a lawyer with hearing impairment in arguing her case.
"I was telling the secretary-general that we should have an interpreter for all constitution bench cases from now on so that a wider audience can understand our proceedings." "This is the first appearance of a court-appointed interpreter here," said CJI Chandrachud, adding that the goal is to accommodate everyone.
In a first, the Supreme Court authorized its registry on Friday to provide an interpreter for advocate Sarah Sunny, who has a hearing disability, to appear before the court and defend her case. The interpreter was paid for by the court.
Senior counsel Menaka Guruswamy, who was present in the courtroom to discuss another subject, described it as a historic event. "This is historic. "It exemplifies the true diversity of this court," she remarked.
According to data submitted to Parliament by the Union government in August, there are little more than 13% women judges in high courts and a slightly higher proportion of over 36% women in district courts.
In response to a question in Parliament about the low proportion of women in the Indian judiciary, Union law and justice minister Arjun Ram Meghwal stated, "As of August 4, three women judges are working in the Supreme Court, 106 women judges are working in the high courts, and 7,199 women judges are working in district and subordinate courts."
The Supreme Court now has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges, three of whom are women. Despite having a sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges, the high courts now have a working force of 767. The proportion of female judges in comparison to this figure is a pitiful 13%.
The district judiciary has a total of 19,858 judges on the bench. According to August data, when the figure of 7,199 is compared to the entire strength, women account for 36.27% of the total strength.
According to a research conducted by Tata Trusts in April, the national average of female judicial officers is 35%, with five states having more than 50% female judges.
According to the 2022 India Justice Report, "one out of every ten people in the justice system is a woman." Women make up only 13% of high court judges and 35% of lower court judges."
According to the survey, Goa district judiciary had 70% female judges, followed by Telangana (52.8%) among big states and Meghalaya (62.7%), Sikkim (52.4%), and Mizoram (51.2%) among minor states.
0 Comments