“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
These opening lines of the Declaration of Independence adopted on July 4, 1776 by the Philadelphia Congress have been the cornerstone of the American Constitution.
174 years later, the Indian Constitution also opened with the Preamble, which assures that “We, The People of India…secure to all its citizens...Equality of status and opportunity.” The Indian Constitution recognises transformative justice by adopting the broadest possible connotations of life and liberty under Article 21.
76 years since the Constitution of India was enforced, women are still left wondering whether they have the equality of status and opportunity and if their pursuit of happiness is meaningful and fruitful.
The inalienable right of an individual to dignity and equality has strong philosophical roots. Aristotle expounded the doctrine of eudaimonia - the concept of a human flourishing through a lifelong pursuit of reason and excellence. John Locke and William Blackstone also put these rights at the foundation of a just modern society.
Women are not born unequal, but are treated unequal. They are endowed with same attributes of intellect, motivation to excel and aspirations. Equality doesn’t translate into only female autonomy and physical dignity but also means the right to “belong in all places where decisions are being made,” as stated by the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former US Supreme Court Justice.
What does “pursuit of happiness” mean for women? Betty Friedan’s book The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963, challenged the idea that true happiness for women was found primarily in domestic life and lamented that the American promise of fulfilment and opportunity was limited by rigid gender roles.
Specifically, what does pursuit of happiness mean for Indian women in law? It means the fulfilment of their aspirations to be senior counsel, law officers, public prosecutors and, at the pinnacle, justices of the High Courts and the Supreme Court. The stark reality is that in the last 76 years, only 11 women - a mere 3.83% of all appointees - have been Supreme Court justices.
Since May 2025, the top court has struggled with only one woman justice. The peak female representation on the Supreme Court was between August 2021 and September 2022, when Justice Indira Banerjee, Justice Hima Kohli, Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Bela M Trivedi were on the Bench. Even at its peak, the Indian Supreme Court could boast of a measly 11.7% women justices, not even half of the the 23% women participation in the urban workforce as per the Labour Force Participation Rate (LPFR) issued by the Government of India in January 2026.
On the parliamentary seats front, when all affirmative action failed, the 106th Amendment for reservation for women in parliamentary seats was introduced in 2023 in the backdrop of there being only 15% women in the 17th Lok Sabha and 9% in state legislative assemblies.
Noting that the anomaly was far more serious on the Bench, DMK Rajya Sabha Member and Senior Advocate P Wilson introduced a Private Member's Bill in parliament on February 6, 2026 proposing constitutional amendment for proportionate women representation in the higher judiciary. Many women lawyers, including me, extend their full support to Mr Wilson’s valiant Bill.
The judiciary’s vision must match the national vision. Prime Minister Modi’s address at the G20 Ministerial Conference on Women Empowerment in Gandhinagar in August 2023 stated,
“When women prosper, the world prospers…The most effective way to empower women is through a women-led development approach.”
While we wait for uncertainty of the legislative process, the Chief Justice of India and the Collegium have a promise to the Constitution to keep. They must with greatest urgency adopt a procedure securing that every future appointment ensures that there are at least 33% women justices in the Supreme Court and the High Courts. If this needs the revolutionary action of appointing only women justices till the acute imbalance is corrected, so be it.
The rhetoric that there aren’t sufficient women is belied by the present judicial demographic. Early 2026 figures show that 14% High Court judges are women. 2 women, soon 3, will serve as Chief Justices of High Courts. There are at least 7 outstanding women in the combined list of 100 senior-most all India High Court justices, a more than sufficient and meritorious pool for appointments to the 6 vacancies that will occur during a year long tenure left for the present Chief Justice of India.
The task can more easily be achieved in the High Courts. As per the 2022 India Justice Report, 35% of the subordinate judiciary is manned (sic) by women. Added to this is the pool of practising women lawyers. There can be no excuse to not choose the most meritorious from this large pool of women.
The call of women lawyers is that if not all, at least most of the incoming vacancies of the Supreme Court in the tenure of Chief Justice Surya Kant, who has been a beacon hope for women by proactively championing women’s representation in the bar councils, be filled by women justices. Leading by example, he can set the tone for the High Courts, something that will go down in history forever.
This giant leap will truly make the constitutional promise of equality and pursuit of happiness of women lawyers meaningful this Women’s Day.
Vibha Datta Makhija is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India.