Only 6 Women Judges In High Court A Matter Of Concern : Kerala Advocate General

The swearing-in ceremony of Justices C Jayachandran, Sophy Thomas, PG Ajithkumar and CS Sudha as Additional Judges of the Kerala High Court took place virtually on Wednesday.

Chief Justice S. Manikumar administered the oath of office to the respective judges.

During his ceremonial felicitation address, Advocate General Gopalakrishna Kurup made notable observations regarding the representation of women in the Indian judiciary, with a closer focus on the State.

"For the first time in the six and a half decades of its history, the actual sitting judge strength of this Hon'ble Court has risen to 41, with the strength of women judges also rising to 6. Six women judges in our High Court cannot be said to be reflective of the demographic proportion of women in our State."

In his address, the Advocate General expressed his concern regarding the inadequate representation of women on the Bench despite active enrolment of girls in schools and colleges.

"In a State where female infanticide is absent, where enrolment of girls in schools and colleges is near to total, if not total, and where women substantially find representation in public employment and that too in many instances outnumbering men, the fact that there are only six women judges in the High Court with only one among their ladyships directly elevated from the Bar, is definitely a matter for thought, if not of concern."

However, he concluded his address on a hopeful note considering that the present Chief Justice of India NV Ramana had recently urged that women should demand more representation in judicial appointments as a matter of right.

"Of course, the silver lining is that we have a Chief Justice in the country who has openly admitted that 50 % reservation of women in judicial appointments is according his Lordship, by way of a right and not a charity."

During the ceremony today, newly sworn-in judges, Justices Sophy Thomas and CS Sudha, also remarked on the fact that they were the first women to occupy their previous posts as Registrar General of the High Court and Additional Director of the Kerala Judicial Academy, respectively.

Justice Thomas in her address stated:

"After about three decades of service, I was invited to become the first woman Registrar General of this prestigious institution. I am grateful to Chief Justice S Manikumar for taking such a bold decision that created history by making a woman the administrative head of the High Court of Kerala for the first time."

Following this, in her address, Justice Sudha spoke of her own experiences as the first woman director of the Kerala Judicial Academy:

"The Kerala Judicial Academy, earlier known as the Directorate of Training, from its inception in the year 1936, for 32 long years until November 2018, never had a woman among its directors. My gratitude to Justice Hrishikesh Roy, presently a judge of the Supreme Court and then Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, for selecting me as Additional Director of the Academy, thus breaking the glass ceiling."