In a significant move, four prominent women in India will now head the historical HCs – among the first few to be shaped in colonial India. The development took place following the appointment of Indira Banerjee as chief justice of the Madras HC on March 31.
Apparently, the sex-ratio in the Indian judicial system is skewed. Thus, this development seems to be a progressive step towards a major change. Let’s know more about these women who is setting examples and bringing the historical change in the country.
Justice Nishita Nirmal Mhatre, Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court
Justice Nishita Nirmal Mhatre graduated from Government Law College, Mumbai. She was enrolled as an advocate on the rolls of Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa on 10 November 1978. She practised in the Industrial Tribunal and Labour Court, Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal and the High Court at Bombay.
Transferred to the High Court in Calcutta, Mhatre sworn in as its Judge on January 6, 2012. Subsequently, she was appointed as Acting Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court on 1 December 2016.
Justice Indira Banerjee, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court
Enrolled as an advocate in 1985, Justice Indira Banerjee served as a judge in the Delhi High Court. Banerjee was appointed permanent judge of Calcutta High Court in February 2002. She was then transferred to Delhi High Court in August last year. She was sworn-in as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court on 5 April 2017.
Justice Gorla Rohini, Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court
Born in Visakhapatnam in 1955, Justice G. Rohini graduated from Osmania University. She obtained a degree in Law from the College of Law, Visakhapatnam and was enrolled as an Advocate on 18 December 1980. She was active in the Andhra Pradesh High Court at Hyderabad. Later, she was appointed as Additional Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on 25 June 2001 and as a Permanent Judge on 31 July 2002. She was appointed as the first woman Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court on 21 April.
Justice Manjula Chellur, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court
Justice Manjula Chellur, received her LLB degree from Renukacharya Law College in 1977. She became the first woman advocate of Bellary. Manjula served as a legal advisor to several banks and agro- industries. In April 1988, she joined the Karnataka Judicial Service. In February 2000, she was appointed as a Judge of the Karnataka HC as its first woman judge.
She was also an Executive Chairperson of Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, and has deep interest for the welfare of the transgender community in Karnataka. She was appointed as Acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court on 9 November 2011, and then as its Chief Justice on 26 September 2012.
