Women, SCs, STs, OBCs a fraction of apex court nominees for HC judges

Only 3.6% of Supreme Court nominees for the position of judges of various high courts since November 2022 were from scheduled castes and even fewer from scheduled tribes, according to disclosures made by the apex court.

- Manas Pimpalkhare

Data disclosed by the court on Monday night showed its collegium suggested 221 names to be high court judges. Of these, eight belonged to scheduled castes and just seven to scheduled tribes. To be sure, some of these 221 names are yet to be appointed by the central government.

Other backward castes (OBCs) were about 14.5% or 32 nominees while women came in at 15.3%, or 34 nominees. A total of 124 persons, named by the top court's collegium, belonged to the general category, but were not women, or minorities, making up about 56% of the nominees.