CJI Surya Kant writes to High Courts, urges them to appoint more women judges

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant has written to Chief Justices of all High Courts urging them to prioritise women candidates in judicial appointments.

Sources familiar with the development told Bar & Bench that after the letter, most courts have responded in the affirmative.

The letter, sent last week, comes at a time when representation of women in the higher judiciary remains low. Data placed before parliament revealed that only 116 of the 813 working High Court judges are women, accounting for 14.27 per cent of the total strength.

The Supreme Court currently has just one woman judge.

The CJI is understood to have emphasised that suitable women members of the Bar should not be treated as exceptions when it comes to elevation.

At the district judiciary level, women constitute around 36.3 per cent of the working strength, indicating a wider pool at the entry level. However, this representation does not translate proportionately to appointments in the High Courts and the Supreme Court.

The communication follows recent remarks by CJI Kant on the need to improve gender diversity on the Bench.

Earlier this month, he had cautioned that if the “pipeline is narrow at source, the Bench cannot later be broad”.