Women in Indian Judiciary

While women have had a tough time making a mark in the Indian legal system, females have come a long way when it comes to women in Indian judiciary.  This article talks about females status as lawyers, difficulties and bias they face, and what could be the way forward.

Women in Indian judiciary

Indian judiciary has always been a male dominated arena, for decades. Although there has been a significant shift when it comes to women holding positions and representing Indian judiciary, there still is a long way to go, in this context.

Today women judges are playing an important role in economic reformation and equality of citizens of India. There have been few landmark judgements by female judges of India, that are till date remembered as major developments in women equality and rights. We will take a look at these revolutionary rulings in the article ahead, also throwing light on challenges faced by women lawyers, possible reasons for low ratio of women in Indian judiciary, along with how the future if females looks like in the Indian judiciary system.

History of Women in Indian Judiciary

It has not been an easy journey for women to make a mark in Indian judiciary system, which has always been male-dominated. Facing and crossing many obstacles like gender bias, social norms, and

Patriarchy, it has not been easy for females to break the ceiling and make a mark in the Indian legal system. 

It was in 1892, that Cornelia Sorabji became the first women to join the Indian legal system. However, the government did not allow her to practice law in the courts of British India, because she was a female.

It was only in 1923, when the Legal Practitioners (Women) Act paved the way for women in the legal profession of India. Following the big development too, women making a mark and earning respect and credit in the law industry was an uphill task. From law firms refusing to hire female lawyers to excluding women lawyers from important cases, women had to break many barriers to finally make their presence felt in the Indian legal scenario.

So while there has been a significant change in the scenario, there is still a long way to go, if we talk about women getting credibility as lawyers.

Women in Indian Judiciary: Trends and Figures

 Going by the latest trends, Out of 1.7 million advocates in India, only 15% are women. Only 2% elected representatives in the State Bar Councils are women.

Here are some trends, facts and figures, court wise, that display where women stand in the Indian legal system.   

 Supreme Court

•  In the last 75 years, the Supreme Court of India has only had 11 women judges. This is just 3.8% out of 287 total appointments.
• As of 2025, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, only one women out of 34 judges, serves in the Indian judiciary system.
• No woman has held the Office of Chief Justice of India, till date, in its entire history since 1950.

High Court

• Women Judges count for only 13.1% of the Judges in all the High Courts.
• Sikkim and Telangana High Courts have the highest representation of women at 33.3%. While states like Uttarakhand, Tripura, Patna, Mizoram have no females in the judiciary system.

District and Subordinate Courts

• 35% of judges are women in lower courts.
• As of 2025, 7,852 women judges serve in district and subordinate courts.

Low Representation of Women in Judiciary: Let’s Looks at the Possible Reasons

 Let’s try to figure out some possible reasons, why females representation is still very low in the Indian Law industry:

• An advocate is eligible for appointment as District Judge only after 7 years of practice. The minimum age is 35 years to be a district judge and 55 years to be a supreme court. These rules collide with the age when women are occupied with marriage and family responsibilities.
• Long working hours, unfavorable working conditions, no maternity leaves, and no support system at personal level, also make difficult for women to strike work-life balance in the law industry and hence dropping out from mid-career.
• More women are present in lower courts due to presence of formal qualifications and examinations
• According to a Research Paper ‘Structural and Discretionary Bias: Appointment of Women Judges in India’ 13 Judges out of 19 interviewed acknowledged the gender bias that exists in the appointment procedure of Judges to the Supreme Court and the High Courts.
• Bad infrastructure where there not even toilets for women, make it difficult for women to survive in such a scenario

 Women Who Made a Mark In The Indian Law Sector

 Though less in number, there have been women who have managed to leave a mark in the Indian law sector. Let’s take a look at them:

Justice Fathima Beevi was the first woman judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court of India in 1989. Her appointment encouraged other women to take up law as a profession.

Justice Ruma Pal has served the longest tenure of any woman judge at Supreme Court so far at 6.3 years. During her tenure from 2000 to 2006, she gave several landmark judgments, including the famous ‘Best Bakery case’ which dealt with the Gujarat riots of 2002.

Pal, along with Justice Gyan Sudha Misra, formed the first all women bench at the Supreme Court, in 2013.

With Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai’s appointment in 2011 and Justice R. Bhanumati’s in 2014, the Supreme Court had three sitting women judges for the first time ever.

Justice Indu Malhotra and Justice Indira Banerjee, were both appointed in the same calendar year—a first for the Court.

In 2021, history was made again as Justice Hima Kohli, Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Bela M. Trivedi were all appointed at once on 31 August 2021.

Women judges have also played a significant role in cases involving women's rights, such as Justice Gyan Sudha Misra’s landmark judgment in the Vishakha case, which recognized sexual harassment at the workplace as a violation of fundamental rights

Another landmark case is, Justice Indu Malhotra’s judgment in the Sabarimala case, which allowed women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

Women in Indian Judiciary: The Way Forward

Below are some changes and steps that can assure better status of women in the Indian legal system:

• Bring in rules and policies where a certain percentage of law positions, particularly at the District and High Court level, are reserved for women
• Bring in better structure changes and work culture like childcare facilities, flexible timings, maternity leave, so that more and kore women find it easier to strike work-life balance.
• Providing basic facilities like separate toilets for females, rest areas, and safety of female lawyers
• Better training for both the genders and respectful court environment can also decrease the gender bias in the Indian legal system

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