Recently, Chief Justice of India, D Y Chandrachud constituted an all-women bench in Supreme Court to hear transfer petitions involving matrimonial disputes and bail matters. The bench comprised Justices Hima Kohli and Bela M Trivedi.

This is 3rd such bench. The first all-women bench was set up in 2013 when a bench of Justices Gyan Sudha Misra and Ranjana Prakash Desai was constituted followed by a bench of Justices R. Banumathi and Indira Banerjee in 2018.

Justice Nagarathna is also set to become the first woman CJI in 2027.

Status of Women in Judiciary:

• In Supreme Court, only 11 women judges have been appointed till now.
• In High Court, there also the proportion of women is low.
• Only 15% are women lawyers.
• Only 2% of the elected representatives are women in Bar Council.

Reasons for Low Women Participation:

• Deeply ingrained 'patriarchy' in society.
• The opaque working of the Collegium system has also been regarded as a cause for their low participation.
• No seats have been reserved for women in Judiciary.
• The number of women advocates is still low.
• Lack of proper judicial infrastructure such as the shortage of women's washrooms is another barrier to women in the profession.

Significance of Higher Women Representation in the Judiciary:

• Greater involvement of women in the sector will help many women to gain access to justice effectively.
• Women's participation will give the entire set-up a better perspective while dealing with the affairs of the female.
• A woman as a judge would inspire confidence in the lives of many other women to take up a similar profession.

Way Forward:

• Emphasising the inclusion of women to bring about social and behavioural changes.
• The transparency of the Collegium System is the need of the hour.
• Unless women are empowered, justice cannot be done for them.
• The reservation of women is much essential in Judiciary.

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References:

• business-standard.com
• indianexpress.com
• thehindu.com