30% AT THE BAR: WILL WOMEN LAWYERS FINALLY GET A SEAT AT THE TABLE?

The Supreme Court intervened after multiple petitions highlighted how state bar councils had negligible female representation.

- TDG NETWORK

In Delhi's district courts this week, the corridors are as packed as ever, but power still runs in a familiar direction. A young woman advocate waits for her matter to be called, robe skimming the dusty floor, while senior male lawyers huddle in tight circles around her.

She belongs to the growing cohort of women pouring out of law schools, yet rarely sees women at the tables where decisions are made. That is what the Supreme Court's December 8-9 order now targets: directing state bar councils to reserve 30% of seats for women - 20% through elections and another 10% through co-option - to secure their “meaningful participation” and correct a long-running gender imbalance. With the quota mandated from the very next bar council polls, the question is whether this week's judgment can shift not just headcounts, but the deeply entrenched masculinity of the Indian bar.