Third-ever: Supreme Court of India has All-woman Bench
As the year reached its end, the first day of December 2022 became historic of sorts for the Indian Judiciary, as the Supreme Court witnessed an all-woman Bench, making December 1 as third such occasion in the country.
The Bench, which sat at Court number 11, was set to take up 32 matters, including 10 transfer petitions related to matrimonial disputes and 10 bail matters.
On Wednesday, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud had set up the Bench comprising Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Bela M. Trivedi.
History was 'accidentally' created in 2013, as Judge Justice Aftab Alam, presiding Judge of a three-Judge Apex Court Bench, could not attend the proceedings, making it an all-woman Bench of Justice Gyan Sudha Misra and Ranjana Prakash Desai.
On September 6, 2018, Justice R. Banumathi and Justice Indira Banerjee held hearing as the first actual all-woman Apex Court Bench of the country.
Currently (as in December 2022), the Supreme Court has three women judges, which include Justice Kohli, Justice Trivedi and Justice B.V. Nagarathna.
While Justice Kohli will retire in September 2024, Justice Trivedi will hold office until June 2025. Justice Nagarathna is set to become the first woman Chief Justice of India in 2027.