Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana, encouraged women to demand 50% reservations for them in the Judiciary. He said that it is their right to demand women reservations. CJI Ramana also observed that women have nothing to lose.
The CJI cited a famous quote from the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The quote says, “Workers of the world, unite!”
CJI: 50 percent reservation is a matter of right and no one is going to give charity. With help of all of you ..We may reach this goal in apex court and others court. I don’t know whether i will be here or somewhere else, that day i will definitely be happy.
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) September 26, 2021
The CJI remarked that there are only 11% female judges in the High Court. The number is in the 30s in the lower judiciary and in the Supreme Court, only 4 out of 33 judges are women.
“This needs urgent correction. People will cite difficulties that women have to face to be fully represented. That is not correct. I agree there is the client’s preference, uncomfortable environment, and lack of infrastructure are the major issues unfriendly to women in the legal profession. Among the 60,000 Courts, 22% do not even have toilets due to which even lady officers suffer,” CJI NV Ramana said.
The CJI also said that physical hearings are likely to resume after Dussehra, which were stopped in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also expressed hope for more women to join the judiciary so that the 50% representation is achieved soon.
