From fighting for washrooms to getting woman president: Inside AAWI’s gender quotas breakthrough

Decades ago, women advocates at the Bombay High Court submitted written representations just to secure basic functional washrooms inside the Bar room. On August 20, the Advocates’ Association of Western India (AAWI), India’s oldest registered Bar body, voluntarily reserved its top post for women advocates..The Association also resolved in its special general body meeting to apply the mandate immediately to the upcoming election..The resolution gained momentum following a formal representation by Senior Advocate Anil Sakhare to AAWI President Prashant Relekar. He referred to Supreme Court rulings in Deeksha N Amruthesh and SCBA v. BD Kaushik to urge AAWI to lead by example..“I suggest we place this subject – to keep a two yearly rotation reservation policy granting reservation to women for the post of President of the Association,” his letter of July 16 said..Rather than shelving the representation, the AAWI leadership acted swiftly. “They did not just fold the letter and keep it aside,” Senior Advocate Deepa Chawan recalled..Chawan reflected on the generational leap:“For a generation of women who entered Bar rooms lacking basic infrastructure, we went to the moon on August 20.” .On July 21, 2026, a nine-member special constitutional committee was constituted under Relekar. Senior Advocate Neeta Karnik explained how the committee balanced realistic arithmetic with gender parity.“Although we started by asking for alternate terms, we knew 30% reservation meant that a third term reservation was the realistic way to do it. That is how the post of President was decided,” she said..Karnik also emphasised the deliberate legal drafting and progressive terminology.“The draft originally circulated mentioned reserving the third term for a female and the remaining terms for a 'male.' We had to point out that it cannot say 'male'; it must say 'general' or 'open,' because in the future, an LGBTQ+ member might also contest. Those nomenclature changes were incorporated,” she said. .Along with Chawan and Karnik, the committee included Senior Advocates Rajiv Patil, Sanjeev Gorwadkar, Atul Damle, Anita Agarwal and Surel Shah, along with advocates Uday Warunjikar and Anita Castellino..Warunjikar prepared the working draft, which Chawan refined. The panel thrashed out technicalities, including service jurisprudence on 'isolated posts' where reservations are typically contentious.“Everything under the sun was discussed. It was not left for any grey area. What really gladdens my heart is that all the views were openly expressed,” Chawan said. .The committee evaluated proposals from members, including a 100 percent one-time quota suggestion and a 30 per cent quota proposal. Members also suggested reserving the Treasurer post for women, while some urged reducing eligibility criteria for young members.The final report recommended reserving the President’s post every third term and expanding female executive committee seats to four out of nine. The general body accepted the report and accelerated implementation, making the very next term reserved for a female President..When members questioned operational challenges to having a woman President, including attending late-night events, senior women lawyers stood firm. “Women in Mumbai manage their careers and travel safely at night; they can easily handle events. Furthermore, leadership under a woman might shift the focus toward more academic programs rather than just late-night social gatherings,” Karnik said..Relekar emphasised the Bar's maturity in taking the leap. “Times have changed, equal opportunity must prevail. The decision is binding on all of us, and we respect it whole-heartedly,” he said.