CJI Surya Kant writes to High Courts, urges them to appoint more women judges
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant recently wrote to the chief justices of all 25 High Courts in India, urging them to prioritize appointing more women judges to address gender imbalance in the higher judiciary. This letter, sent last week, also calls for urgent action to fill the 309 vacant High Court positions out of a sanctioned strength of 1,122 judges.
The communication emphasizes early initiation of the appointments process, which involves multiple stakeholders like state governments and the Supreme Court collegium, to avoid delays. CJI Kant specifically highlighted that suitable women lawyers should be considered as a norm, not an exception, amid low representation—only 116 of 813 working High Court judges (14.27%) are women, and the Supreme Court has just one female judge.
This push builds on CJI Surya Kant’s earlier remarks, including on International Women’s Day, where he stressed institutional reforms for fair representation, noting 36.3% women at the district judiciary level as a positive trend. Most High Courts have responded affirmatively to the letter, signaling potential progress in diversity.
