Supreme Court Makes History by Granting Senior Advocate Status to 11 Women Lawyers in a Day

New Delhi: In a historic move, the Supreme Court, under the leadership of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, conferred Senior Advocate status on 11 women lawyers in a single day, marking a significant milestone in the court’s history. This decision, part of a full-court meeting, saw a total of 56 lawyers, including 34 first-generation lawyers, being granted Senior Advocate status.

The 11 women lawyers who achieved this milestone are Shobha Gupta, Swarupama Chaturvedi, Liz Mathew, Karuna Nundy, Uttara Babbar, Haripriya Padmanabhan, Archana Pathak Dave, Shirin Khajuria, NS Nappinai, S Janani, and Nisha Bagchi. Among the first-generation lawyers honoured are Amit Anand Tiwari, Saurabh Mishra, and Abhinav Mukherjee.

This move is a noteworthy step towards gender justice and a recognition of the merit of women lawyers, according to Additional Solicitor General and Senior Advocate Aishwarya Bhati. The decision is being lauded as a service to gender equality, showcasing respect for the capabilities of women in the legal profession.

Previously, the Supreme Court had granted Senior Advocate status to only 14 women, including two retired judges. In 2019, six women lawyers were simultaneously conferred with Senior Lawyer status, namely Madhavi Dewan, Maneka Guruswamy, Anita Shenoy, Aparajita Singh, Aishwarya Bhati, and Priya Hingorani.

Notably, the first woman to be designated as a Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court was Justice Indu Malhotra, who later became a judge of the Supreme Court. Justice Malhotra’s nomination occurred in 2007, 57 years after the establishment of the Supreme Court. Subsequently, in 2013, Meenakshi Arora, Kiran Suri, and Vibha Dutta Makhija were granted Senior Lawyer status, bringing the total to four. In 2015, V Mohana and Mahalakshmi Pavani were nominated, and later, two retired women high court judges, Justice Sharda Agarwal in 2006 and Justice Rekha Sharma in 2015, received this prestigious designation.