Justice BV Nagarathna, daughter of Former Chief Justice of India Justice E.S. Venkataramiah could soon become the 1st Woman Chief Justice of India. The Supreme Court, currently has two vacancies and with Justices R Banumathi and Justice Arun Mishra set to retire in July and September, respectively, there will be 2 additional vacancies totalling up to 4.
The Supreme Court Collegium is to recommend 2 names for filling the vacancies in the Apex Court. More importantly, if the collegium recommends the name of Justice BV Nagarathna then she will be set to become the first woman Chief Justice of India.
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Her name has been discussed, but her chances are not very bright due to several reasons, Karnataka already has adequate representation in the Supreme Court, and other courts also need to be given representation. But, she is a good judge and a final decision will be taken by the collegium.
A Supreme Court Source
The Supreme Court currently has three woman judges — Justices Banumathi, Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee.
Factors Working Against Justice BV Nagarathna
- Karnataka HC already has enough representations in the Supreme Court
- Justice Nagarathna stands at serial number 46 in all-India seniority of high court judges.
- Among the judges originally from the Karnataka HC, there are two judges senior to her — Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice L.N. Swamy and Justice Ravi Vijaykumar Malimath of the Uttarakhand High Court.
- Casual Sexism affecting the Indian Judiciary since years.
“There are no written rules and the final choice depends on consensus within the collegium. If the collegium members decide that it is time to recommend a woman judge so that she can become the first woman CJI, she will be the most suitable”
A Former CJI in a comment to ThePrint.
