At her farewell reference at the Gujarat High Court, Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal told members of the Bar to grab opportunities, prepare well and not let others’ doubts decide the limits of their achievements, days after the Centre notified her elevation to the Supreme Court.
Clarifying its scheme for 30% women’s representation in State Bar Councils, the Supreme Court held that a ‘senior’ woman advocate eligible for co-option need not be a designated senior advocate but one in long practice, that women who contested and lost the Bar Council elections are also eligible, and that the Article 220 bar on former High Court judges practising is no impediment to their co-option. Tripura, with fifteen members, will co-opt one woman.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant revealed that a robust mechanism is being developed to increase women’s representation in the legal profession. Emphasising his commitment, he said, “I am not a person who only make statements,” while highlighting steps including 30% reservation for women in Bar bodies.
The Supreme Court of India sought replies on a PIL demanding 30% reservation for women lawyers in government legal panels. The plea stated, “The systemic exclusion of women from these panels is not merely an issue of professional inequity but a constitutional lapse that impedes the realisation of substantive equality,”.
