Highlights:
- The Supreme Court now has only one female judge, Justice Indira Banerjee, who is due to retire in September 2022.
- The Supreme Court collegium approved nine nominees for appointments to the highest court.
- Three of them are women, one of whom is BV Nagarathna.
Justice BV Nagarathna is likely to become India’s first female Chief Justice in 2027.
The Supreme Court Collegium, led by Chief Justice NV Ramana, has recommended the names of nine judges for elevation to the Supreme Court.
The Collegium also suggested Justice BV Nagarathna, who is currently a judge on the Karnataka High Court. In 2008, she was appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Karnataka, and nearly two years later, she was appointed as a permanent judge.
She is most likely just going to be there for a month. Her appointment will mark an important turning-point in the country’s judicial system. She will be carrying on the legacy of her father, ES Venkataramiah, who served as Chief Justice of India from June 1989 to December 1989.
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Justice Hima Kohi and Justice Bela Trivedi are the other two female judges on the list.
There have been calls in India for a female Chief Justice.
Supreme Court Collegium recommends 9 names, including 3 women judges, for elevation as Supreme Court judges.
— ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2021
Three women judges recommended are -Justice BV Nagarathna of Karnataka High Court, Justice Hima Kohli of Telangana High Court & Justice Bela Trivedi of Gujarat High Court pic.twitter.com/CwLqPlwTxb
SA Bobde, the former Chief Justice of India, said prior to his retirement that, “the time has come for India to have a woman Chief Justice.”
“We have women’s interests in our minds, and we are doing everything we can to implement it best. There is no attitude change in us. The only thing is we have to get good candidates, ” he stated in April.
Chief Justice Ramana has previously said that it is time for a woman to lead the judiciary.
PS Narasimha, a top advocate and former Additional Solicitor General, will be a Supreme Court judge as well.
Justice Vikram Nath, Justice JK Maheshwari, Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, Justice MM Sundresh and Justice CT Ravikumar are among the other justices recommended by the five-member Collegium.
