Ujjal Bhuyan Flags Gender Gap in Higher Judicial Appointments

By: WE Staff | Monday, 23 March 2026

• Ujjal Bhuyan pointed to the issue of gender disparity in appointments to higher judicial posts
• She said women have achieved over 50% representation in merit-based judicial services in states
• Expressed concern over the assessment criteria in the collegium selection process

Ujjal Bhuyan, a proud Supreme Court judge, shone a light on some serious gaps in the level of gender representation in the higher judiciary, as it relates to appointment processes.

Justice spoke about the fact that in many states, more than half of all judicial officer positions are filled by women through various types of merit-based selection processes.

However, when it comes to appointing women to either the High Court or Supreme Court through the collegium system, the percentage of appointments drops drastically.

Justice Ujjal made this statement during a speech he delivered at the first-ever national conference of the Supreme Court Bar Association in Bengaluru.

He explained that many states have strong representation of women in judicial services and some even exceed 50 percent. At the same time, he questioned whether this was reflected in the Courts that have been created under the Constitution.

He also noted that since being created in 1950, only 11 women have served as Supreme Court judges and today that represents about 2 percent of the total of 287 Supreme Court judges since the inception of the Supreme Court (the first female Supreme Court judge was Justice Fathima Beevi and the most recent is Justice B V Nagarathna).

Additionally, he noted that approximately 14 percent of currently serving High Court judges is female. Finally, he mentioned that of the 25 High Courts across the country, only two have female Chief Justices with one more soon to be appointed (he feels this number of female Chief Justices does not represent a satisfactory number).

Justice Ujjal indicated that his research indicates that a fair and objective recruitment process would lead to increased female representation within the judicial system.

He further indicated that in order for India to achieve developed nation status by 2047, it will be imperative to seek increased representation of females within the judicial system. Ujjal lastly indicated that to be representative of the country, there must be equality in the composition of the Supreme Court.

The former Chief Justice of India, B R Gavai, also spoke at the conference. Justice Gavai indicated that the decisions made by the Supreme Court have provided the guidance for the government to comply with any appointment recommendations made by the Collegium.

Justice Gavai also indicated that there have been instances where the completion of the appointment process was delayed after a reaffirmation by the Collegium. Finally, Justice Gavai stated that whilst the current recruitment process is not perfect, it is the best available.