Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has called for a 50% reservation for women in government empanelment of advocates, urging the creation of a dedicated financial corpus to support women lawyers during maternity breaks.
Speaking at the 1st Supreme Court Bar Association's national conference in Bengaluru, CJI Surya Kant emphasized the need to ensure gender equality in the legal profession, citing encouraging trends at the entry level where women now constitute over 50% of students in national law schools and universities.
However, he noted that a steep drop-off exists beyond entry-level participation, and called for a closer examination of systemic barriers that push women out of the profession, including long and irregular working hours, reluctance among litigants to brief women lawyers, and the lack of consistent mentorship from seniors.
CJI Surya Kant proposed creating a financial corpus to help women lawyers during the early stages of their practice and during their maternity break, and called for institutional support systems such as crèches and childcare facilities within court complexes to enable women to return to work after maternity leave.
