Kerala High Court gets four female sitting judges

On 6 October, the Kerala High Court went on to create history, as Justice V. Shircy was appointed to the High Court Bench, making her the fourth female sitting judge in the High Court.

Justice V. Shircy joined the likes of Justice P.V. Asha, Justice Anu Sivaraman and Justice Mary Joseph to become the fourth sitting judge on the Kerala High Court Bench, a landmark feat in a profession largely dominated by men.

Kerala has always set the benchmark for being progressive. The very first female judge to be appointed to a High Court bench, and the very first female judge on the Supreme Court Bench were also from the state of Kerala.

"It is a welcome step. When Mr HR Gokhale was the Law Minister of India he had initiated the steps to appoint several lady Judges in High Courts. I was at the lower judiciary at that time. The Supreme Court and the Government should appoint more women in the High Court because the proportion of lady Judges in High Courts is very low. It has to be raised" Justice M. Fathima, the first female judge in the Supreme Court of India told LiveLaw, in response to Kerala High Court's historic feat.

Justice M. Fathima Beevi was also the very first Asian woman to become a Supreme Court Judge, and the first Muslim woman to be appointed to a higher judiciary.

Anna Chandy, also a native of Kerala, became the first woman to be appointed to a High court bench in 1959. In the year 1937 she was appointed as Travancore's Munsif, making her the first female judge in India.

Justice R. Banumathi is currently the only female sitting judge in the Supreme Court. The Delhi High Court currently has ten female sitting judges.