Data | Only 11 women Supreme Court judges in 71 years, three of them appointed in 2021

The share of women judges in High Courts was only 11% as of August 1, 2021

Three of the of India on Tuesday, August 31 are women. The elevation of the three women judges is significant as the share of women has always remained poor in the judiciary. The first-ever woman judge in the SC was appointed in 1989, 39 years after the apex court came into existence. Since then, only 10 women, including those sworn in on Tuesday, have become judges in the apex court. Representation at the High Courts (HC) has been no better, with only 11% of the judges being women. The lower judiciary fares slightly better. The chart shows the serving women judges (in red), retired women judges (in lighter shade of red), serving men judges/Chief Justices (in grey) and retired men judges/Chief Justices (in light red) of the SC according to their year of appointment as of August 31. Only 11 of the 256 judges (4.2%) who have served/ are serving at the apex court were/are women. Four out of the 33 judges (12%) currently serving are women.