IN a remarkable judgment delivered on February 28, 2025 by a multi-gendered bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices B.V. Nagarathna and N. Kotiswar Singh, the Court addressed the issues faced by female officers within the Indian judiciary.
While acknowledging that having women in the judiciary makes it more inclusive, the Court observed that there is room for improvement in making the system more enabling for these women officers and sensitive to the problems they experience, which are widely different from those experienced by their male counterparts.
“It is not enough to find comfort solely in the growing number of female judicial officers if we are unable to ensure for them a sensitive work environment and guidance”, the judgment authored by Justice Nagarathna states.
It discusses the physical, emotional, and psychological difficulties faced by women, which are not necessarily appreciated while grading their performance as judges. It also highlights that the judicial system must account for the anxieties and difficulties faced by women in judicial services.
