NEW DELHI: Former Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Sunday said the government has shown little intent or determination to ensure gender parity in India’s constitutional courts, even though women make up a significant share of judges in the lower judiciary.
Speaking during a question-and-answer session at the first national conference of Indian Women in Law at the Supreme Court on International Women’s Day, Justice Ramana said the government often adopted a “casual attitude” toward appointing women judges to the Supreme Court and high courts.
Justice Ramana, who served as CJI from April 2021 to August 2022, recalled that during his tenure three women judges—Justices Hima Kohli, Bela M Trivedi and BV Nagarathna—were appointed to the Supreme Court and took oath on August 31, 2021, creating a historic moment.
However, no woman has been appointed to the Supreme Court since then, despite the leadership changing hands among five Chief Justices: UU Lalit, DY Chandrachud, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant.
Justice BV Nagarathna is set to become India’s first woman Chief Justice on September 24 next year. Addressing her at the event, Justice Ramana remarked that two future CJIs—Justice Nagarathna and her successor Justice PS Narasimha—were present at the gathering. He expressed hope that during their tenures at least seven to eight women judges would be appointed to the Supreme Court.
Justice Nagarathna, who is scheduled to retire on October 29, 2027, assured him that she would make every effort to increase women’s representation in the top court.
Explaining his remarks about the government’s lack of intent, Justice Ramana said that although successive law ministers routinely asked high court chief justices to recommend women advocates and judicial officers for elevation, the government never strongly insisted on meaningful representation in each recommendation.
He pointed out that women constitute nearly 40% of judicial officers in trial courts, indicating a strong talent pool. However, the numbers drop sharply in higher courts. Out of a sanctioned strength of 1,122 judges in high courts, only 116 are women, while the Supreme Court—whose sanctioned strength is 34 judges—currently has only one woman judge.
Justice Ramana also said it would be unfair to place the entire responsibility on the government. According to him, the judiciary must also act with sincerity to promote inclusivity.
“There is no shortage of talented women lawyers who can be appointed as high court judges,” he said.
He added that major metropolitan centres have a large pool of highly capable women advocates, making the low representation in judicial appointments particularly concerning.
