No woman chief justice at any High Court: Govt informs Parliament

• Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said only 11 female judges have been appointed to the Supreme Court so far
• The strength of judges in the Supreme Court rose to 32 after President Droupadi Murmu’s approval last month
• Currently, the apex court is functioning with 27 judges, including the Chief Justice of India

There is no woman presiding judge of any high court in the country, the Union Ministry of Law and Justice informed Parliament.

Citing data provided by the Bar Council of India (BCI), the ministry said earlier on Thursday that women judges constitute 9.5 per cent of the total number of high courts and there are currently 775 working judges out of the total number of judges. of which 106 are women.The center said that of the approximately 15 million advocates registered nationwide, nearly 2 million were women, accounting for nearly 15.31 percent of the total number of advocates.

Responding to questions from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Rakesh Sinha, Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju informed Parliament that only 11 women judges have been appointed to the Supreme Court so far and only 30 percent of subordinate judges are women, Hindustan Times reported .

Rijiju previously said that the representation of women in the judiciary has increased over the past 70 years, but "there is a long way to go to address the needs of ensuring diversity in the higher courts". "During the last seven decades of India's journey as an independent nation, the representation of women as judges has increased," Rijiju added while attending a valedictory function at the Supreme Court last year.

The number of Supreme Court judges rose to 32 after President Droupadi Murmu's approval last month. Currently, there is a Supreme Court with 27 judges, including the Chief Justice of India. According to the data currently available, only 19 of the approximately 488 advocates who have received the senior designation from the Supreme Court so far are women. From 1950 to 2013, only four women were appointed to the supreme court since its inception, and 15 women were awarded in the past nine years, the report said.

The Madras High Court has 13 female judges, the highest number, followed by the Bombay High Court, which has eight female judges appointed as of 2021. A report by the Ministry of Justice revealed that the High Courts of Manipur, Meghalaya, Patna, Tripura and Uttarakhand do not have female judges.