The road to gender equity in courts

Women’s under-representation, particularly in India’s higher judiciary, continues to be a sad reality. As highlighted by the India Justice Report 2025, women constitute only 14% of judges in the High Courts and a mere 3.1% in the Supreme Court. Among the 34 judges of the Supreme Court, there is only one woman. The silver lining is her expected elevation as the first woman Chief Justice of India. If no woman is inducted before she completes her tenure, the highest court of the country may have the unenviable distinction of not having even a token representation of women. Out of 25 High Courts, only one is headed by a woman Chief Justice. This stark deficiency has been flagged in the past, and several judges have also voiced their concern. However, no serious effort seems to have been made to correct this imbalance, and the situation remains dismal in this hollowed domain. The main reason for this gender disparity is the current Collegium system of induction of judges in the High Courts and the Supreme Court. The Collegium consists of the Chief Justice and a few other judges. In such a highly networked ‘elitist club’, women and other underprivileged sections of society are at a great disadvantage. Need for reform The lower courts fare much better on this front, since judges at this level are selected through competitive examinations that open the doors equally to women and men. As a result, women account for nearly 38% of the overall strength of the lower judiciary. The numbers could rise further with better promotional opportunities and a gender-friendly infrastructure. Nearly 20% of the district court complexes in 2023 lacked separate toilets for women, according to a report published by the Centre for Research and Planning of the Supreme Court. This gender imbalance in the higher judiciary can be corrected if there is an open, national-level competition for judicial appointments, similar to those for the IAS, IFS, and IPS. This suggestion is not new. In recent years, this idea has gained traction and found support from President Droupadi Murmu. In her address at the Constitution Day function organised by the Supreme Court in November 2023, she suggested the creation of an All-India Judicial Service. This, she said, would be a system “in which judges can be recruited through a process which is merit-based, competitive and transparent. Such a system can offer opportunities to the less-represented social groups also.” Data | The Supreme Court gender gap: Women judges, fewer in number, have shorter tenures Unfortunately, this suggestion has faced stiff resistance from both the judiciary and the Bar; in their view, this may result in executive interference and dilute the judicial autonomy. However, this argument is not convincing. If there is no evidence of any executive interference in the selection of the lower judiciary through competitive exams, how would a similar system affect the independence of the higher judiciary? On the contrary, an open competitive examination would ensure a uniform merit-based selection process and bring the much-needed transparency, while reducing the influence of biases and patronage, and creating a more inclusive judiciary. UPSC as a model To counter such concerns, a special mention needs to be made of the crucial role played by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in holding a pan-India competitive examination annually for recruitment to the Civil Services. Over the decades, the profiles of successful candidates in the UPSC Civil Services examination have witnessed a remarkable diversity in their social and economic backgrounds. Out of the 1,009 candidates selected in the year 2024, there are 318 from the OBC, 160 from SC, 87 from ST, and 109 from EWS. Women have scripted a new history; the top 25 successful candidates include 11 women. In fact, both first and second ranks were secured by women. The scenario in the IPS is even more heartening. In 2024, 54 women joined the IPS, comprising 28% of the total strength. Way forward Article 312 of the Constitution empowers Parliament to create new All-India Services, including an All-India Judicial Service, to ensure uniform recruitment, training, and service standards. One hopes that such a service comes into existence soon. Once constituted, the control over the Indian Judicial Service should vest with the Supreme Court. However, the examination should be open to all Indians and conducted by the UPSC, based on the eligibility standards and other criteria prescribed by the Supreme Court in consultation with the High Courts. This would inject the much-needed impartiality, transparency, and diversity in the selection process of the higher judiciary. Those selected should work under the control of the Supreme Court or the High Court concerned, as the case may be. The modalities, of course, are to be decided by these courts, including those relating to a comprehensive basic training programme after their selection. To recall the famous words of a former Prime Minister of France, Georges Clemenceau, “War is too important a matter to be left to generals” .Similarly, justice is also too serious a matter to be left entirely to the judiciary. The citizens of this country also have a stake in this matter and need to be given access to the selection process to ensure an inclusive judiciary.