Half of advocates empanelled by govt should be women, says CJI

CHief justness of bharat Surya immanuel kant on sat pitched for 50% reserve for women in government empanelment of advocates and called for creating a dedicated financial corpus to support women lawyers, especially during maternity breaks, as part of a broader push to secure “gender equality in the legal profession.”Speaking at the 1st Supreme Court Bar Association’s national conference in Bengaluru, CJI Surya Kant said the government must move beyond the existing 15 to 30% benchmark and ensure that at least half of all empanelled advocates are women.“Let us ensure 50% of those empanelled are women advocates. Let us not stick to just 30%. That can be a beginning. Second, in the legal aid panel too, at least 50% counsels should be women,” he said.He also urged the Union and state governments to create a financial support system for women lawyers in their early years of practice, including “honorarium” based assistance during maternity leave.“These measures will give women both opportunity and stability,” he said.The Chief Justice said that such measures will ensure that women lawyers sustain participation in the legal profession even after the entry level at the Bar.The CJI said that it was important for stakeholders to implement such measures to ensure that the “larger constitutional vision of equality” moves beyond formal guarantees to “lived realities.”He also pointed to “encouraging trends at the entry level” of the legal profession, noting that women now constitute over 50% of students in national law schools and universities and a significant proportion of new entrants to the Bar.“This reflects a societal shift. It shows that families and the society are now encouraging women, our daughters, to enter the legal profession,” he said.The CJI however, added that there was no denying that a steep drop-off exists beyond entry-level participation.“The real question is whether we are able to maintain that equality as careers progress,” he said.The CJI called for a “closer examination” of systemic barriers that push women out of the profession.He identified multiple structural challenges such as “long and irregular working hours, reluctance among litigants to brief women lawyers, and the lack of consistent mentorship from seniors.”CJI Surya Kant also said there is an imperative need for creating safer work environments for women lawyers, particularly given late working hours in chambers after court.To address these gaps, he also proposed creating a financial corpus to help women lawyers during the early stages of their practice and during their maternity break.Such institutional opportunities, the CJI said, will help women build “credibility” and “client trust.”“Creating a financial corpus for women lawyers for financial support in early years of practice. I think we can persuade the Government of India and state governments to create a corpus which should be meant only to help women lawyers particularly during the period when they are required to go for maternity leave, there should be dedicated professional assistance in the form of an honorarium payment,” the CJI said. “The states can initially come forward to generate that corpus and slowly we can find out another mechanism,” he said.He added that mentorship and senior guidance were also critical to retaining women in litigation.Speaking about the judicial services, CJI Surya Kant said the entry-level representation there was “very encouraging,” with women comprising nearly half of judicial officers across India and even 60 percent in some states.He cited the example of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which has 18 women judges.The figures, he said, reflected the success of women who entered judicial service and advanced through merit and experience.He also called for institutional support systems such as crèches and childcare facilities within court complexes to enable women to return to work after maternity leave.“This is a long process but I am sure it can be achieved,” CJI Kant said, urging all stakeholders to collaborate in ensuring gender equality for women across the legal profession.