Today, On 5th August, The Delhi High Court sought responses from bar associations regarding a plea advocating for reservations for women lawyers in the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA). Advocate Fozia Rahman highlighted the lack of gender diversity in the leadership roles within the DHCBA.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court, On Monday, issued a notice to the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) and the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) regarding a plea that advocates for reserving at least two seats in the DHCBA executive committee for women lawyers.
A Division Bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela announced that the case will be heard on August 12.
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This Public Interest Litigation (PIL) will be considered alongside another petition that calls for a 33% reservation for women in the bar associations of the national capital.
The new petition filed by advocate Fozia Rahman and seeks to address gender imbalance by reserving two seats for women in roles such as President, Vice President, Honorary Secretary, Joint Secretary, and Treasurer, either on a rotational basis or through another effective method.
Additionally, the plea suggests reserving the DHCBA president position for women every third year. During years when the president’s post is open to all members, the position of secretary or joint secretary should be reserved for women.
Rahman emphasized the lack of gender diversity in the leadership positions within the DHCBA.
The plea stated,
“Despite the comprehensive framework provided by Rule 19 of the DHCBA Rules, there is a conspicuous lack of gender diversity in the association’s decision-making positions. With the DHCBA’s membership now exceeding 32,000, it is imperative to adapt the organizational structure to better represent this growing membership and ensure diverse representation,”
The plea also mentioned that the petitioner, along with approximately 200 other advocates, had made a representation highlighting these issues, but no action has been taken by the respondents so far.
This petition aims to bring about significant changes in the DHCBA’s leadership structure to foster greater gender diversity and equitable representation in decision-making processes.
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