The Supreme Court has refused to hear the petition demanding reservation for women in the judiciary. The court said that this is not a matter for court hearing. The petitioner can submit a memorandum to the government and other concerned institutions.
Petitioner Mani Munjal had demanded 50 percent reservation for women in the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court, High Court and lower courts. He had also demanded 50 percent women’s reservation in the appointment of government lawyers. The matter was put up for hearing in the bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. Advocate Vishnu Jain appeared on behalf of the petitioner, but the court did not give him much opportunity to cross-examine.
The Chief Justice asked Jain whether he had considered what message would be sent by the dismissal of this petition? He said that continuous efforts are being made to increase the representation of women, but these things take time. As far as the appointment of judges in the Supreme Court and High Court is concerned, it can be seen as an administrative matter. There is no need for a judicial hearing on that. For the remaining subjects, you should submit memorandum to the concerned institutions.
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Keep in mind that the Supreme Court has given several orders regarding reservation of posts for women in the Bar Council and Bar Association. Apart from this, in January this year, Chief Justice Surya Kant had also written a letter to all the 25 High Courts of the country to give priority to the appointment of women judges. Pointing to these efforts, on Thursday, April 16, he said, ‘The court considers it important to increase the representation of women, but petitions should not be filed again and again on the same subject.’
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According to the figures presented by the government in Parliament this year, there are currently 813 judges in the country. Only 116 of them are women. This is only 14.27 percent of the total number. At present there is only one woman judge in the Supreme Court. These things were also discussed in the petition.