No woman lawyer appointed Attorney General, Solicitor General in 75 years: Justice Hima Kohli

Noting that no woman lawyer has been appointed as the Attorney General or the Solicitor General in India in the last 75 years, former Supreme Court judge Hima Kohli has emphasised the need to address the issue of judicial stereotyping of women lawyers by sensitising judges and legal professionals about gender biases.

Speaking at an event to commemorate ‘100 years of women in law in India’ here last evening, Justice Kohli lamented that women legal practitioners continued to face stereotypes questioning their authority – over a century after the Legal Practitioners (Women) Act, 1923 allowed women the right to practise law in India.

The gender bias was both implicit and explicit, she said. “Explicit is when there is discrimination in hiring and promotion patterns for women lawyers, under-representation of women in the field of prosecution and (in appointment) as senior lawyers and judges. Implicit bias can be gauged from the lack of enforcement of the existing laws, the existing rules and equations that have been designed to prevent such bias,” Justice Kohli said.

“Gender discrimination, gender bias, which was rampant from early days, has overtly subsided but continues to persist in surreptitious force. Women lawyers have often encountered stereotypes that question their competence and their authority, the perception that women are less aggressive or authoritative compared to their male counterparts,” she said.

The bias impacted the “hiring practices” and limited the opportunities for advancement of women lawyers within the legal firms and courts, she added.

Though the number of women holding the post of additional solicitor generals (ASG) in the Supreme Court had increased marginally, women ASGs representing the Union Government in high courts were very less.

Citing Bar Council of India data across 15 states released in 2023, she said there were 2,84,507 women lawyers accounting for only 15.31 per cent of the total enrolment of 15,42,855 lawyers.

There were only 76 women high court judges out of a total of 750 judges but the position was better in district courts, where in some states women judicial officers accounted for around 50 per cent of the total strength, she said, citing a 2021 study.

There was a panel discussion in which journalist Suhasini Haider, Cambridge University scholar Bhumika Billa, senior advocates Vibha Datta Makhija and Jayna Kothari and Advocate-on-Record Sanchita Ain discussed the past, present, and future of woman in the Indian legal

Profession. A short film titled ‘(IN)VISIBLE’, produced by Billa, was also launched.