Legal profession still feudal, patriarchal, needs to be democratised for women: Chief Justice

NEW DELHI: Lamenting that the structure of the legal profession in the country is still “feudal” and “patriarchal”, Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud stressed on Saturday that women judges bring a “broader sense of diversity” to the judiciary with more deliberation, consultation and discussion in the process of judging.

“There is something intrinsic about gender, irrespective of the outcome that you arrive at in an individual case, which brings to the table a more deliberative, a more consultative and a more dialogic process to the art and the science of judging,” said the CJI while speaking at the 20th edition of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS).

Justice Chandrachud emphasised that one of the chief reasons behind having very few women judges in the judiciary is their small numbers in the feeding pool for the judiciary, which can consist of either practising lawyers or women judges in high courts or district courts.

“Now the feeding pool which determines who enters our judiciary, is largely dependent on the structure of the legal profession. The structure of the legal profession even today across India is feudal, patriarchal and it has not been accommodating of women,” rued the CJI.

Therefore, he pointed out that, when the need to have more women in the judiciary is talked about, it is equally necessary to have the building blocks for the future by creating access to women now within the legal profession. “Until we have a democratised and merit-based access to the entry point in the legal profession, we will not have more women... we will not have people from the marginalised groups,” said the CJI, opining access to chambers for appointment should be based on a more “merit-based” appointment.