The 11 women lawyers designated as Senior Advocates by the Supreme Court

For the first time in its history, the Supreme Court designated 11 women lawyers as Senior Advocates in one go on January 19, when it conferred the gown on 56 lawyers in total. .The apex court had last designated Senior Advocates in 2021, when only one woman lawyer was given the honour among seventeen others..Below are the 11 women lawyers who have been designated Senior Advocates in the latest round..Shobha GuptaGupta is known for taking up issues involving rights of women and liberty matters. She was standing counsel of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for more than 16 years and has arranged several legal aid camps for the economically downtrodden. Notably, she was the lawyer for Bilkis Bano since 2003 and had appeared pro bono in all her cases. Her advocacy also led to the Supreme Court awarding the highest-ever compensation in a rape case. .We failed her as a society: Lawyer of Bilkis Bano, Advocate Shobha Gupta on remission of 11 convicts.Swarupama ChaturvediChaturvedi graduated with a law degree in 1999 and enrolled as an advocate in 2000. She became an Advocate-on-Record at the Supreme Court in 2012. She held the position of Additional Advocate General for the State of Madhya Pradesh from 2020 to 2023. She recently appeared for the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) before Delhi High Court, arguing that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's act of posting a picture of himself with the parents of a Delhi rape victim on social media is a grave offence.She had also intervened in the same-sex marriage case on behalf of the NCPCR..Liz MathewLiz Mathew graduated from National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore and worked for Reliance before moving to Delhi to start her litigation career.She worked in the chambers of Senior Advocate Indu Malhotra, who went on to become a Supreme Court judge. She later joined the chambers of Senior Advocate and Attorney General of India KK Venugopal before setting up her independent practice. She is an Advocate-on-Record and has also served as standing counsel for the State of Kerala from 2011 to 2014. Mathew was recently appointed as amicus in a case where the top court strongly criticized a Calcutta High Court judgment that had advised young girls to "control sexual urges". She also recently appeared for YS Bharathi Reddy, wife of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy, in a case filed against her by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)..Karuna NundyNundy works with governments abroad to contribute to constitutional and legal drafting and policy. She was listed by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022-2023.Her advisory and policy work include contributions to the framing of Nepal's Interim Constitution, a legislation workshop with the Senate of Pakistan, advice to the Government of Bhutan on compliance with human rights treaties and legal reform in the Maldives with the Attorney General’s office and the Chief Justice of the Maldives Supreme Court.Her pro bono work includes litigation related to the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster and toxic waste dumps. She has argued cases involving the rights of alleged terrorists, mentally ill people and class actions on sexual harassment. She recently appeared in the same-sex marriage case, arguing for the right of union for same-sex couples, as well as in the case seeking the criminalisation of marital rape..Nisha BagchiBagchi completed law from Delhi University and has been practicing before the Supreme Court for more than a decade.She appears in customs, civil, commercial and arbitration cases. In one of the matters she appeared in, the top court reiterated that the classification of goods under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (CTA) should be in accordance with the heading which provides a more specific description than a general one.Bagchi was also the point of contact for the Gender Sensitisation Committee formed by the Supreme Court to look into sexual harassment complaints..Uttara BabbarBabbar pursued law from NLSIU, Bangalore and went on to do her LL.M. from Columbia Law School. She is an Advocate-on-Record and has appeared for the administration of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram in the temple expenses and maintenance case. Babbar also appeared for the appellant in the case where the Supreme Court ruled that all applications or appeals arising out of arbitration under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act other than international commercial arbitration shall be heard by designated commercial courts..Haripriya PadmanabhanPadmanabhan is an independent lawyer who has been practicing before the Supreme Court for over 25 years.After completing law from NLSIU, Bangalore in 1998, she shifted to Delhi to start her practise in the disputes resolution team of Amarchand Mangaldas before moving on to the chambers of C.S.Vaidyanathan, Sr Advocate and K.K.Venugopal, Sr Advocate.Padmanabhan specializes in civil, commercial and constitutional cases, notably appearing in the Annie Nagaraja case successfully seeking full service commission for women naval officers, and in having the Kanungo judgement declared per incuriam by the Supreme Court in the matter concerning the revocation of arbitration clauses in Kerala. Padmanabhan appeared recently before the Constitution Bench in the Fathima Beevi case concerning change of rules of the game. Her commercial work involves appearances before the NCLAT and the NCLT and in arbitrations, and she has also appeared in the dispute between Mohit Saraf and the late Rajiv Luthra over the ownership of Luthra & Luthra law offices..Archana Pathak DaveDave is a graduate of the Faculty of Law, Rajasthan University and pursued her LL.M. from Jai Narayan Vyas University. With over 20 years of practice, she has represented the Union and Gujarat governments before the Supreme Court. She was also the panel counsel for Engineers India Limited, Employees Provident Fund Organisation and Central Council of Indian Medicine. Dave has also represented corporate clients including Oriental Insurance Company, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company and Bharti Axa General Insurance Company. She has been involved in landmark rulings like the Permanent Commission for women in the Indian Army, the right to privacy and the police reforms matter..NS NappinaiNappinai is a lawyer practicing before the Supreme Court and the Bombay High Court with over 30 years experience.She specialises in cyber law and constitutional law, as well as criminal law, arbitration, intellectual property rights, corporate and commercial matters. She is a trained mediator and holds the rank of Honorary Advisor, Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA). She is also a Senior Panel Advocate for the Central & Western Railways.Among the recent cases of note she has appeared in was the Prajwala letter case.An alumna of the Stanford Centre of Democracy, Development & Rule of Law Fellowship USA, Nappinai is a prolific writer and speaker with a text on Cyber Safety and Emerging technologies forthcoming..S JananiJanani is an independent lawyer, practicing in various fields of law including employment, property law, cyber crimes, criminal and consumer protection.She is a first-generation lawyer with a law degree from Delhi University and has been in the profession since 1986. .Shirin KhajuriaKhajuria is a trained mediator and Advocate-on-Record with over 30 years of experience.She is a graduate of Delhi University's Law Faculty and has appeared in commercial, contractual, matrimonial, family, property, arbitration, direct and indirect taxation, labour and service, telecom, consumer and broadcasting matters.She is known for her appearance in the top court in the case concerning videography and other modern methods to be employed by the police in crime scenes and investigations.