"Hope Won't Be Far Off": Justice Nariman On Woman Chief Justice Of India

Justice BV Nagarathna, presently a judge in the Karnataka High Court, is one of those whose name was considered for Chief Justice after Justice Ramana's term.

It is "unfortunate" that India has never had a female Chief Justice, despite having women serve as President and Prime Minister, Supreme Court judge Justice RF Nariman said Friday. Delivering the Justice Sunanda Bhandara Foundation lecture in Delhi, he said: "I hope that given the present dispensation (the) time for the first woman Chief Justice won't be very far off..." Justice Nariman's remark comes a day after Chief Justice SA Bobde - while hearing the appointment of ad hoc judges to High Courts across the country - said "we are implementing it (naming a woman to the top judiciary post)... only thing is we have to get good candidates". Apart from never having had a woman serve as Chief Justice, India has only had eight women appointed to the Supreme Court. Of those eight, only three have been appointed since 2014.