Supreme Court gender ratio sparks debate on Collegium system
- Justice Sunita Agarwal became the 13th woman appointed to the Supreme Court on October 6, 2026.
- Women currently hold only three of the 37 working positions on the Supreme Court.
- Justice Ujjal Bhuyan suggested a woman judge should join Collegium deliberations to improve representation.
- Women's representation in judicial services drops from 45% at Grade II to 25–30% at Grade I.
- Several High Courts, including Manipur and Tripura, currently have no women judges.
Justice Sunita Agarwal was sworn in as a Supreme Court judge on October 6, 2026, becoming the thirteenth woman appointed to the court in its history. Her appointment increased the working strength of the Supreme Court from 34 to 37 judges against a total sanctioned strength of 38.
This addition raised the number of women judges on the bench from two to three. As of November 11, 2026, women constitute 8.1 percent of the court's total working strength of 37 judges.
Live Law and Bar and Bench both published articles on November 11, 2026, questioning if the Collegium system, which selects judges for the higher judiciary, is failing women.
Judicial service pipeline shows declining female representation
Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said that the entry of women into Grade III judicial services in states such as Assam, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Telangana is sometimes above 50 percent. In Assam, the figure reaches approximately 65 percent.
Justice Bhuyan said that women's representation in judicial services is approximately 45 percent at the Grade II level. This representation declines to approximately 25 to 30 percent at the Grade I level.
High Court gender distribution remains uneven
A Ministry of Law and Justice press release issued on February 2, 2026, reported that women accounted for 116 of the 814 working judges across India's High Courts.
In the Punjab and Haryana High Court, 18 out of 61 judges are women. The Bombay High Court has 12 women out of 80 judges. The Delhi and Madras High Courts each have 10 women judges.
The High Courts of Manipur, Tripura, and Uttarakhand have no women judges.
Subordinate court representation varies by state
The Ministry of Law and Justice reported that as of February 2025, women officers accounted for approximately 38 percent of the workforce in district and subordinate courts, with 7,852 women serving against a sanctioned strength of 25,886.
State-level figures for these courts show approximately 70 percent representation in Goa, while Meghalaya and Nagaland have around 63 percent.
Arguments for institutional reform and equality
Barooj Abid argued that the legitimacy of the judiciary depends on its independence, constitutional authority, and ability to maintain public confidence.
The judiciary must examine its own internal inequalities to properly adjudicate matters of justice, dignity, and equality.
Appointing a woman judge should be part of a sustained institutional commitment rather than an isolated, exceptional achievement. The central issue is why institutional pathways to the highest judicial offices remain unequal for women.
Justice Sunita Agarwal's career path
Before joining the judiciary, Justice Agarwal practiced for approximately 21 years in civil, writ, original, and commercial jurisdictions.
Seven decades of Supreme Court history
The Supreme Court was established seven decades ago.
Barooj Abid, a law student based in Ranchi, provided these observations.
- Is Collegium System Failing Indian Women? (livelaw.in)
- Is the Collegium system failing women? (barandbench.com)
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