Justice BV Nagarathna Champions Gender Equity in Legal and Political Arenas

Justice BV Nagarathna highlights the importance of gender diversity in legal and political fields, advocating for increased representation of women. She emphasizes the need for more female high court judges and law officers, and praises the reservation for women in Gram Panchayats as a step towards inclusive governance and policymaking.

On Saturday, Supreme Court judge Justice BV Nagarathna advocated for gender equity within India's legal and political realms, particularly highlighting the significance of female representation in Gram Panchayats. She called for a minimum of 30% of law officers representing Union and state governments to be women to ensure diversity and fairness.

During a seminar at Mumbai University titled 'Breaking Glass Ceiling: Women Who Made It', she emphasized the promotion of competent female advocates to high court judgeships to enhance bench diversity. Justice Nagarathna posed a rhetorical question: if men under 45 can serve as high court judges, why not their equally qualified female counterparts?

Addressing the barriers women face in the legal profession, she stressed that systemic discrimination hampers their advancement despite parity in education levels between genders. Justice Nagarathna lauded female political representation resulting from panchayati raj reservations, though expressed frustration over delayed implementation of similar measures in Parliament.

(With inputs from agencies.)