Women before women: All-women law officer team to represent State before women-only benches of Karnataka HC

An all-women team of State Law Officers will represent the Karnataka government before the Karnataka High Court's special all-women Benches sitting at Dharwad on August 1.

The Office of the Advocate General K Shashi Kiran Shetty has assigned an all-women team of State law officers to appear before the seven all-women Benches that will sit on Saturday.

The team will be led by Additional Advocate General Prathima Honnapura.

The special sitting will see women leading proceedings from both sides of the courtroom, with women judges hearing cases and women law officers representing the State government.

According to a work allotment notice, women Additional Government Advocates (AGAs) and High Court Government Pleaders (HCGPs) have been assigned to appear before each of the seven Benches.

The all-women team of State law officers comprises:

• Prathima Honnapura, Additional Advocate General

• Nandini Somapur, Additional Government Advocate

• Pramodhini Kishan, Additional Government Advocate

• Savithramma, Additional Government Advocate

• B P Radha, Additional Government Advocate

• Sunita Sequeria, Additional Government Advocate

• Spoorthy V, High Court Government Pleader

• Mamatha Shetty, Additional Government Advocate

• Girija Hiremath, High Court Government Pleader

• Rashmi Patel, High Court Government Pleader

• Rashmi Rao, High Court Government Pleader

• Kirtilata R Patil, High Court Government Pleader

• Mala B Bhoote, Additional Government Advocate

• Hemalatha V, Additional Government Advocate

• Ratnamala, High Court Government Pleader

• Prathibha R K, Additional Government Advocate

• Chandini S, High Court Government Pleader

• Sowmya R, High Court Government Pleader

• Waheeda, High Court Government Pleader

• Deepthi Alva, High Court Government Pleader

Bar & Bench had earlier reported that the Dharwad Bench of the Karnataka High Court will hold a special Saturday sitting comprising seven all-women Benches on August 1. The special sitting was scheduled following a request by the ladies' representatives of the Advocates' Association, Dharwad.

The seven all-women Benches comprise the following judges:

• Justice Anu Sivaraman and Justice KG Shanthi;

• Justice Jyoti M and Justice P Sree Sudha;

• Justice Lalitha Kanneganti and Justice KS Hemalekha;

• Justice Chillakur Sumalatha;

• Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju;

• Justice Geetha KB;

• Justice Rajeshwari N Hegde.

While all-women Benches are themselves uncommon in India's constitutional courts, it is even rarer for an all-women team to represent the State before every Bench on the same day, making the August 1 sitting notable for both the Bench and the Bar.