A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court of India seeking 30 per cent reservation for women lawyers in government law officer positions and legal panels of the Centre, states and Public Sector Undertakings, according to a report by Bar & Bench.
The plea, filed by Ladli Foundation Trust, argued that women continue to remain severely underrepresented in institutional legal positions despite constitutional guarantees of gender equality. A Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi briefly heard the matter.
During the hearing, CJI Surya Kant referred to the low representation of women in bar bodies and government legal positions. “Yesterday, in the Telangana Bar Association, the Secretary was a woman appointed… Around 8,000 come regularly, out of which 2,000 are women. Now only one woman member appointed,” he observed. Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the petitioner, cited a recent survey by the Supreme Court Bar Association on challenges faced by women lawyers and sought directions for better inclusion of women in government legal panels.
The petition pointed out that no woman lawyer has ever been appointed as Attorney General or Solicitor General of India, and that none of the Additional Solicitors General currently posted in High Courts are women. It further argued that the lack of representation in government legal panels directly impacts women’s chances of elevation to higher judicial positions, as such posts often act as feeder positions for judicial appointments.
According to the plea, women constitute only around 15.31 per cent of the country’s legal workforce and remain underrepresented in the higher judiciary as well. The matter is scheduled to be heard further next week.
