By Shubhangi Chauhan
The very low representation of women in the Supreme Court and in the High Courts throughout the country has raised serious concern among the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).
In a resolution on August 30, 2025, the lawyers body, through its president Vikas Singh and secretary advocate Priya Baghel, expressed disappointment that none of the women in the Bar or the Bench had been promoted to Supreme Court in the latest round of appointments. This was a day after Justices Alok Aradhe and Vipul M. Pancholi took the oath of becoming judges of the highest court.
The promotion of Justice Pancholi, who was number 57 in the all-India seniority list of High Court judges, had been under criticism since he had overtaken three senior female judges. Even Supreme Court Collegium member and sole woman judge, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, had opposed his appointment. Women lawyers including senior advocate Indira Jaising raised questions on the logic behind women judges being ignored again. The most recent effort to place women on the Supreme Court happened in 2021 and there is only one woman on the Bench at the moment.
The SCBA emphasized that the issue goes even to High Courts. States like Uttarakhand, Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur have no women judges anymore. Of the almost 1,100 authorized posts of High Court judges, approximately 670 are filled by men and the other 103 by women with no others filling the remaining vacant posts.
The association called back that its president had already addressed Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai in May and July this year urging him to at least give women a proportional representation in appointing judges.
It was resolved that the increased gender balance on the Bench was not only necessary to provide fair and equal representation, but also to enhance the level of public confidence in the judiciary, increase the prominence of the judicial viewpoints and represent the diversity of Indian society in the supreme judicial organ.
The SCBA then went on to suggest that the Collegium should consider with urgency and attention with the issue of increasing the number of women judges in the coming rounds of appointments to the Supreme Court and to the High Courts.