Glass ceiling finally broken as Justice Nagarathna set to be India’s first female CJI in 2027

NEW DELHI:  The glass ceiling is finally broken. The Supreme Court got three women judges on Tuesday, including Justice BV Nagarathna, who is in line to become the first woman Chief Justice of India (CJI) in September 2027.

Prior to this, only eight women, including sitting judge Justice Indira Banerjee, were appointed as apex court judges in the history of the top court, starting with Justice M Fathima Beevi in 1989.

With the swearing-in of three women judges, justices Hima Kohli, B V Nagarathna and Bela M Trivedi , which happened for the first time in the apex court’s history, the top court will have as many as four lady judges on its bench simultaneously, another first to its credit.

Across 26 high courts, there are only 82 women judges out of 1,079. Madras tops the list with 13, followed by Punjab and Haryana who have 11 women judges each. Delhi and Bombay have eight women judges each. There is one each in Gauhati, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Sikkim.

Even Attorney General KK Venugopal had batted for inclusion of more women judges in the judicial system. He also cited skewed gender disparity in designation of lawyers as senior advocates. There are only 17 women senior advocates in the top court, as compared to 403 men.

In Delhi High Court, there are only eight women designated as seniors, while 229 are men. In Bombay High Court, there are 157 male senior advocates and only six women.

Nine new judges were administered oath of office on Tuesday by CJI N V Ramana. Besides Justices Kohli, Nagarathna and Trivedi, others sworn-in are Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, Vikram Nath, Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari, CT Ravikumar, MM Sundresh and PS Narasimha.

Amongst them, Justice Nath and Justice Narasimha will become CJIs in the near future. The strength of the Supreme Court has now risen to 33, including the CJI, out of the sanctioned strength of 34.

“This is for the first time in the history of the Supreme Court of India when nine judges will be taking the Oath of Office in one go,” the apex court had said.

The long-standing demand of citizens and rights activists to have a woman CJI will also be fulfilled for the first time in the independent India’s history as Justice Nagarathna would be the first woman Chief Justice of India (CJI) in September 2027.

In another first, the venue of the ceremony was shifted to the newly-built auditorium instead of the CJI’s courtroom, the traditional place for such a ceremony.

The apex court, hearing cases through video-conferencing since March last year due to the pandemic, again for the first time held such a function permitting invitees to take part physically after the onset of COVID.

Again for the first time, the oath ceremony, which had been accessible to only those who were present inside the CJI’s courtroom, was telecast and webcast simultaneously.

The new judges who were administered oath of office as apex court judges include Justices Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, Vikram Nath, Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari, Hima Kohli and B V Nagarathna.

Besides, the CJI also administered oath of office to Justices C T Ravikumar, M M Sundresh, Bela M Trivedi and P S Narasimha, who was a senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General.

Family members of the judges, who were sworn in, and bar leaders of the high courts, where the new judges were working, were there in attendance in the auditorium.

The strength of the Supreme Court judges has now risen to 33, including the CJI, out of the sanctioned strength of 34.

Justice Hima Kohli was the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court before being appointed as a judge of the top court.

Born on September 2, 1959 in Delhi, Justice Kohli did her LL.

B from the Campus Law Centre in Delhi University and was the standing counsel and Legal Advisor of the New Delhi Municipal Council in the High Court of Delhi from 1999-2004.

She was appointed as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court on May 29, 2006 and took oath as a permanent judge on August 29, 2007.

Justice Nagarathna, who is the daughter of former CJI E S Venkataramiah, was a judge of the Karnataka High Court before being elevated to the apex court.