1.Gender Gap in Higher Judiciary (Judicial Representation)
What & Where
Higher Judiciary: Supreme Court + 25 High Courts deciding constitutional & major civil-criminal matters across India
Collegium System: senior judges recommend appointments/transfers; lacks codified criteria, minimal public scrutiny
Gender Gap: women form 14.27 % in HCs, only 2 in SC; nil women judges in Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Tripura
Quick Facts for MCQs
Numbers Snapshot
- High Courts: 109 women; Allahabad HC 3 women, largest bench size nationwide
- Supreme Court: one woman likely post-June 2025 after Justice Trivedi retires
- Leadership: only Gujarat HC currently headed by a woman Chief Justice
Barriers
- Scrutiny: women’s merit questioned more than men’s, delaying elevations
- Collegium opacity: no gender yardsticks; rejection of nine female names underscores bias
- Mentorship gap: fewer networking, senior briefs; limits pipeline for higher posts
Reform Ideas
- Transparency: publish eligibility norms, accept formal expressions of interest from women lawyers
- Reservation: institutionalise at least 33 % women judges in SC & HCs
- Accountability: mandate written, reasoned orders for government rejections of collegium recommendations
Key Data Points
| Feature | Data-Point |
|---|---|
| Women share, High Courts | 14.27 % (109/764) |
| Women judges, Supreme Court | 2 (Justices Nagarathna, Trivedi) |
| Allahabad HC women share | 3/79 ≈ 2 % |
| High Courts with zero women | Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Tripura |
| Average appointment age | Women 53 yr; Men 51.8 yr |
| Only woman Chief Justice | Gujarat High Court |
| Women names rejected since 2020 | 9 (5 sole rejects in lists) |
| Direct Bar-to-SC elevations | Women 1; Men 9 (since 1947) |
| First woman lawyer in India | Cornelia Sorabji, 1924 |
| Suggested minimum quota | One-third women in higher judiciary |
Related UPSC Prelims PYQs
300 persons are participating in a meeting, out of which 120 are foreigners and the rest are Indians. Out of the Indians there are 110 men who are not judges; 160 are men judges, and 35 are women judges. There are no foreign judges. How many Indian women attended the meeting?
Consider the following statements:






