NEW DELHI: Step by step allowing women advocates to gain foothold and have a say in the elected bodies of otherwise male-dominated bar associations, the Supreme Court on Friday said it was high time that women advocates had adequate representation in the lawyers’ associations across India.
A month earlier, a bench led by Justice Surya Kant had diplomatically tackled a sensitive issue – earmarking posts for women advocates in Delhi High Court bar Association and district bar bodies – by giving patient hearing to stakeholders and assimilating myriad views to achieve the objective.
Not to ruffle a certain section of advocates who argued that the field was open for male and female advocates to contest each post, the bench had avoided the word ‘reservation’ in its Dec 19 order. “There shall be only one post of Treasurer, as it already exists in DHCBA. The said post of Treasurer is earmarked, not reserved, for women candidates, for the ensuing elections,” it had said.
When women members of Advocates Association, through senior advocate Jayna Kothari and Lakshmy Iyengar, argued for replication of the Dec 19 order for the ensuing polls for governing body of their association, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N K Singh on Friday went a step further and directed that post of treasurer be reserved exclusively for women advocate.
“We generally give finance ministry posts to women everywhere,” the bench said in a lighter vein. It said there is no bar or impediment under the concerned rules and regulations to reserve posts for women advocates
In addition, it directed the High-Powered Committee, which is tasked to conduct the polls for Advocates Association, to extend the date for filing of nominations for the post of treasurer by women advocates and said if required the HPC could even postpone the elections by a few days.
The bench asked the HPC and chief returning officer to consider adequate representation of women advocates in the governing council of the advocates association to ensure that their strength is not less than 30% of the elected candidates.
The SC also directed that the directions issued in the case relating Delhi HCBA and district court bar bodies – Out of the members of the Executive Committee, who are elected from amongst the Senior Designated Advocates, one post shall be earmarked for a woman Senior Advocate. The next category is from amongst advocates who have 25 years of practice, and one post shall be earmarked exclusively for a woman candidate – will be replicated in Bengaluru advocates association.
