NEW DELHI: With the retirement of Justice Indu Malhotra from the Supreme Court on Saturday, the top court is left with only one woman judge in Indira Banerjee.
Justice Malhotra was the first woman lawyer to become a Supreme Court judge. With her retirement, the number of vacancies rose to five. The collegium is considering a few women judges for elevation.
The name of senior judge BV Nagarathna from Karnataka HC is doing the rounds. If elevated now, she will be in line to become the first woman CJI in 2027 for a period of eight months. Chief Justice of Telangana HC, Hima Kohli’s name is also discussed. If appointed now, she will have a tenure till 2024. Otherwise, she retires in September.
Across 26 HCs, there are only 82 women judges out of 1,079. Madras tops the list with 13, followed by Punjab and Haryana with 11. The Delhi and Bombay HCs have eight women judges each, with one each in Gauhati, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Sikkim. Though there are no fixed rules to appoint judges for the top court, seniority and regional representation are usually the major criteria.