The swearing-in ceremony of Justices C Jayachandran, Sophy Thomas, PG Ajithkumar and CS Sudha as Additional Judges of the Kerala High Court took place virtually earlier this week. With these appointments, the working strength at the court is now 41 judges, out of which six are women judges. Justices Thomas and Sudha join Justices Anu Sivaraman, Mary Joseph, Shircy V and MR Anitha as the women judges of the High Court. Among them, only Justice Sivaraman was elevated directly from the Bar.
While delivering the ceremonial felicitation address, Advocate General Gopalakrishna Kurup made some relevant observations regarding the representation of women in the judiciary. 'For the first time in the six and a half decades of its history, the actual sitting judge strength of this Court has risen to 41, with the strength of women judges also rising to six. Six women judges in our High Court cannot be said to be reflective of the demographic proportion of women in our State,' he said.
The Advocate General expressed his concern regarding the inadequate representation of women on the Bench despite active enrolment of girls in schools and colleges. 'In a State where female infanticide is absent, where enrolment of girls in schools and colleges is near to total, if not total, and where women substantially find representation in public employment and that too in many instances outnumbering men, the fact that there are only six women judges in the High Court with only one among their ladyships directly elevated from the Bar, is definitely a matter for thought, if not of concern.' Kurup stated. Kurup concluded his address on a hopeful note highlighting that in September, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, had said that women have suffered enough of suppression over thousands of years and it is time the country has 50 per cent representation of women in judiciary. 'It is their right and not a matter of charity,' CJI Ramana said, while speaking at a recent event organised by women lawyers of the Supreme Court.
Newly sworn-in judges, Justices Sophy Thomas and CS Sudha, also remarked on the fact that they were the first women to occupy their previous posts as Registrar General of the High Court and Additional Director of the Kerala Judicial Academy, respectively. Justice Thomas said, 'After about three decades of service, I was invited to become the first woman Registrar General of this prestigious institution. I am grateful to Chief Justice S Manikumar for taking such a bold decision that created history by making a woman the administrative head of the High Court of Kerala for the first time.'
Speaking of her own experience breaking the glass ceiling, Justice Sudha said, 'The Kerala Judicial Academy, earlier known as the Directorate of Training, from its inception in the year 1936, for 32 long years until November 2018, never had a woman among its directors. My gratitude to Justice Hrishikesh Roy, presently a judge of the Supreme Court and then Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, for selecting me as Additional Director of the Academy, thus breaking the glass ceiling.'