Panel discussion on the role of the media in highlighting gender gaps in the higher judiciary

A simple look at the composition of the higher judiciary in India makes it clear that there is inadequate representation of women judges. A closer look at the data puts the gravity of the situation in perspective: women constitute only 6.06 percent of judges in the Supreme Court and only 14.4 percent of judges across the 25 High Courts. 

A two-day national consultation organised by the Centre for Law and Policy Research was held in Bengaluru on 22 and 23 March to address this issue. Titled “Equal Justice: Securing Equal Inclusion of Women in the Higher Judiciary,” the consultation comprised four panel discussions which highlighted the systemic barriers that hinder women’s advancement in the judiciary.

SCO’s Gauri Kashyap moderated a panel on “Reporting Justice: Media’s Role In Highlighting The Gender Gap In The Judiciary.” The panellists included Apurva Vishwanath from the Indian Express, Vakasha Sachdev from Logically and Jyoti Yadav from The Print. 

The panellists discussed how the media can shape public perception of gender diversity in the judiciary through narrative and data-driven reporting. Vishwanath described an incident in which a judge made stray comments during the hearing of a case related to sexual violence, to expose gender bias among judges. She also added that journalists must reach out to women legal experts on a wide array of topics to enhance their visibility in the public discourse. 

Yadav emphasised the need for journalists to tap the potential of stories which seem out of the box. She cited the example of her story on the lack of toilets for women in the district judiciary in Uttar Pradesh which invited much attention. 

Sachdev highlighted the need to ask the right questions and the right follow-up questions to contextualise reporting and make it impactful. He also highlighted the role of social media in adding to and initiating the bias against women. 

Building on the panelists’ comments, Kashyap spoke about the crucial role that media plays in shaping narrative. She pointed out that the media influences the public on what issues deserve their attention, but also how the public must approach it. She stressed that newsrooms have the added responsibility of demystifying the Courts and shedding light on their obscure processes to ensure equal representation in the Indian Judiciary.  

Other panels in the consultation were themed around the role of Bar Associations as catalysts in enhancing the visibility of women advocates, the role of the Collegium in recommending and appointing more women to the Bench, the challenges in the process and the potential judicial reforms that can be implemented to address the gender gap. One of the reforms proposed by former judges who participated in the consultation was to allocate a reservation of 33 percent for women High Court judges.