Sibal urges CJI to appoint more women in higher judiciary

New Delhi: Highlighting the dearth of women judges, Supreme Court Bar Association president and senior advocate Kapil Sibal on Friday urged Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud to appoint more women lawyers and judges in higher judiciary.

Paying tributes to Justice Hima Kohli, the ninth in seniority among the apex court judges, who is due to retire on September 1, Sibal said she carved her career and chartered her own course in life.

With the retirement of Justice Kohli, the number of apex court judges will come down to 33 against the sanctioned strength of 34. Now, the top court will be left with only two women judges -- Justice B V Nagarathna and Justice Bela M Trivedi.

"I request the Chief Justice of India to look at law firms and women who are aware of the complexities of the business community. If Indians, Indian women, can become CEOs of Pepsi and run banks in India and lead commercial organisations in India, why should not women lawyers working in law firms dealing with complex legal issues, not be absorbed and brought to the judiciary so that they can be appointed in different high courts," Sibal said.

The Rajya Sabha MP and SCBA president was speaking at the farewell function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association for Justice Kohli.

Sibal said Justice Kohli was the ninth apex court woman judge till date and asked, "The question that needed to be asked was how after around 75 years of Independence, there had been only nine women judges?” "That tells you something about the male mindset in this country… It tells you something about the nature of our profession. It also allows you to reflect as to how we carve the future of our country, especially in the legal profession," he said.

He said it was not easy to become a judge of the Supreme Court, given the travails and tribulations that a woman faced in her professional journey to the bar and then to the bench.

"Now, if you look at the Supreme Court, there are very fine lady lawyers in our court, and yet, if you really notice, none of them is doing litigation in relation to business matters," he said.

Sibal also highlighted that some women lawyers in the top court were having a "phenomenal practice" and that the CJI could pick them and move them across high courts in the country.

"You have done it with male lawyers. You should also do it with women lawyers. And, I think this is something that we should collectively look at, because ultimately, if you give responsibility, and you know that our women are able to discharge any kind of responsibility, including the responsibility of the highest position in the country, president, prime minister of India, why not judges the Supreme Court, and why not more judges in the high court?" he said.

He said Justice Kohli possessed four essential traits of a judge and they are -- clear and forward-thinking vision, a firm grasp of practical realities, steadfast ethical principles, and the bravery to act on them.

"If our judges were to actually each of them have these four essential traits, I think our judicial system will bloom to another level altogether," said Sibal.

Born on September 2, 1959, in Delhi, Justice Kohli went to the St Thomas School, and graduated with Honours in History from St Stephen's College.

She completed her post-graduation in History and thereafter, joined the LLB course at the Law Faculty, Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi, and completed it in 1984.

She was appointed as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court on May 29, 2006, and took oath as a permanent judge on August 29, 2007.

Justice Kohli was sworn in as the Chief Justice of Telangana High Court on January 7, 2021.

She was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court on August 31, 2021.