More Air For A Rarefied Circle

The higher judiciary is a bastion of upper caste males. Greater diversity needs demographic data, a sharper light on the collegium system

- Tarika Jain & Shreya Tripathy

The fact that in the 70 years of its existence, India’s Supreme Court has seen only eight woman judges and one Dalit chief justice is testament to the reality that the composition of our judiciary is not representative of our population. At present, women constitute a shockingly low 11 per cent of high court judges and there is not a single Dalit chief justice in any high court. The numbers are surprisingly different at the level of subordinate judiciary—28 per cent of judicial officers were women (as of 2017). So, it prompts us to ask questions.

But first, that a diverse judiciary is necessary is a given: it boosts public confidence in the institution and lends it democratic legitimacy. When the Supreme Court diluted the prevention of atrocities act, provoking outrage from Dalits, many openly traced it to skewed representation in the judiciary. It is logical that greater diversity of views on the bench will contribute to quality adjudication that draws from various life experiences and understands the different realities of litigants from varied backgrounds.

An inadvertent filter

The question now is, how do the numbers get so skewed? And what can we do? A good starting point may lie in exa­ mining the mode of selection/appointment—we are inc­ lined to think this plays a pivotal role in inadvertently filtering out certain social groups. For a situation without that filter, look at the three­stage process to become a judicial magistrate or civil judge: two exams and an inter­ view, open to fresh law graduates. That is, an objective contest based purely on knowledge, irrespective of socio­ economic background—perhaps the best explanation for the diversity at that level. By contrast, appointments to the higher courts are made through the collegium system, where the Chief Justice of India and senior Supreme Court judges do the selection.