Denial of judgeship to women lawyers discussed

CHANDIGARH: The denial of due representation to lady lawyers in elevation as judges of the high courts and the Supreme Court of India and the urgent need to initiate remedial steps to restore balance in this regard was strongly voiced by majority of the speakers and others who participated in the seminar held on Sunday at the new bar complex of Punjab and Haryana High Court here.
It was not without significance that the seminar which was organised by the lady members of the high court bar association and attended among others by a number of judges of the high court, highlighted the rather raw deal handed out to women advocates by the powers-that-be in not finding even one of them to be eligible enough or adequately equipped for elevation to the Bench. This depressing scenario, the speakers from the fraternity were quick to point out, continued to persist despite good work done by women judicial officers and the lawyers.
Daya Chaudhry the former president of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association set the ball rolling by raising the issue of discrimination against women advocates in regard to giving them due representation by recommending them for elevation to the Bench. It was wrong to presume that women perhaps were not in a position to do such a job well, she said and added that women judges have acquitted themselves well. Daya Chaudhry besides well known advocate Sangeeta Dhanda, Gargi Kumar joint secretary of the bar association were among those who collectively planned the the seminar '' Role and Status of Women in Legal System.''
Punjab’s additional advocate general Nirmaljit Kaur was forthright in pointing out that women as members of the bar and even those who were elevated from amongst the judicial officers, showed remarkable capability to cope with the demands of the judicial work. Going by the records alone, one came to the conclusion of continued lack of recognition to the women lawyers in terms of elevation to the Bench, Nirmaljit Kaur added.
However, Amarjit Kaur Khurana said elevation to the bench apart, not a single lady lawyer had so far been even designated as a senior advocate which appropriately sums of the situation. Sangeeta Rai Sachdeva a judicial officer posted in the district courts, Chandigarh, said she had not encountered any kind of discrimination so far.
Addressing the participants Justice G.S.Singhvi called upon the women advocates to work hard as this alone would help them in carving a place for themselves under the sun. Justice Singhvi said he had the opportunity to sit with four different women judges and all of them did their work well. Justice Kiran Anand Lall who presided over the deliberations favoured greater participation of women for strengthening the legal system. Dr Satya Nalwa, former dean of law faculty, Punjabi university, Patiala, Dr Sangeeta Bhalla, a professor in the PU law department, Chandigarh, were among those who spoke about the need to accord appropriate role and representation to the women in the legal system.