New Delhi, March 27 Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has written to the chief justices of high courts, urging them to expedite the filling of judicial vacancies, with a special focus on the elevation of female judges to ensure diversity in the benches.
According to sources, the CJI wrote to the chief justices of 25 high courts last week, highlighting the vacancies in the higher judiciary and the need to increase the representation of women in the benches.
The CJI, who has previously emphasized the poor representation of female judges, also urged the chief justices to avoid delaying the recommendations of the collegiums and to take steps to fill the vacancies even before they arise.
On March 8, while speaking at a function, CJI Kant advocated for greater institutional reforms in the judiciary to encourage more women to enter the legal field, stating that high court collegiums should consider meritorious female lawyers for judicial appointments as a norm, rather than an exception.
The CJI requested the high court collegiums to broaden their consideration and include female lawyers from their respective states who are practicing in the Supreme Court for elevation.
He had also pointed out that several women are currently serving as chief justices of different high courts, and that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has as many as 18 sitting female judges. Similarly, the Madras and Bombay High Courts also have about a dozen female judges each.
CJI Kant had also pointed out that women comprise approximately 36.3 per cent of the working strength of judicial officers at the district level.
"Friends, this is not a simple statistic; I would argue that it reflects a generational shift. If we speak of a pipeline, it is here that it is visibly widening. And when the base of the system reflects greater inclusion, it is only a matter of time before that strength finds expression in the higher judiciary," he had said.
According to data presented in the Lok Sabha by Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in February, 170 women judges have been appointed in the high courts since 2014, including 96 in the last five years, and six in the Supreme Court.
The data indicated that 116 women judges were serving in the high courts as of February 6. It also stated that 308 posts of high court judges were vacant against a sanctioned strength of 1122 judges.
As of February 6, the high courts have a working strength of 814 judges, and the Supreme Court has 33 judges, including one female judge.