Ending the male monopoly in bar councils in India

It seemed appropriate at the end of the year to hear the unmistakable sound of a glass ceiling crashing down.

- Namita Bhandare

The blow was struck by a Supreme Court bench headed by chief justice Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Baghchi who were hearing pleas filed by women lawyers Yogamaya MG and Sheila Chaudhary.

The women pointed out the painful, and frankly embarrassing, fact that in the six decades since it was set up in 1961, the 20-member executive committee of the Bar Council of India had never elected a woman. Across India, only six of 441 elected representatives in 18 state bar councils are women. And 11 of these bar councils have zero women executive members.

This exclusion is “structural, systemic and constitutionally indefensible,” senior advocate Shobha Gupta, arguing for Yogamaya, said. The judges agreed and have directed one-third of seats, including at least one office-bearer post, to be earmarked for women in the upcoming bar council elections.