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Indian judiciary run by ‘upper caste, elite, Hindu males’? Ex-Chief Justice DY Chandrachud gives reality check
- Former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud in a recent interview said that the Indian judicial system is not presided upon men anymore, as more and more women are joining the lower courts who will eventually climb up the hierarchy.
Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud believes that the Indian judicial system is transforming and is no longer being presided over by a group of “elite of male Hindu, upper caste men”.
In an interview with Stephen Sackur, Chandrachud refuted the claims of the veteran BBC journalist.
“The truth is that the law in India is still presided upon, adjudicated by an elite of male Hindu, upper caste men like yourself,” Sackur commented as he sat with Chandrachud at his Delhi residence, throwing tough questions at the former CJI.
Chandrachud in response said that the judiciary does not work like this anymore.
“Now what happens is this, if you look at the lowest levels of recruitment to the Indian judiciary, the district judiciary, which is the base of the pyramid, over 50% of the new recruits coming into our states are women. There are states in which the recruitment of women goes up to 60% or 70%,” he said.
The 65-year-old explained that whatever happens at the higher levels of the Indian judiciary is a reflection of a system that existed two decades ago.
“The higher judiciary today is reflective of the status of the legal profession about 20 years ago. I had spent 25 years at the bench before I retired,” he said.
“What's happening now is that as the reach of education, particularly legal education, has reached out to women, that gender balance which you find in law schools is now reflected in the lowest levels of the Indian judiciary,” he added.
According to Chandrachud, now an increasing number of women are coming into the district judiciary system, and these are the women who would be climbing up to higher judicial levels in the future.
“So quite contrary to what you said, it is not that there are judiciaries either upper caste or that it is male in the sense.”
The Supreme Court of India got its first woman judge, Fathima Beevi, in 1989. Since then, only 11 women have made it to the top court as judges.
During Chandrachud’s tenure, Justice Hima Kohli, Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Bela M. Trivedi were sworn in as Supreme Court judges, taking the total tally of women at the position at that time to four.
Indian judiciary promoting culture of dynasty?
Responding to a question on if there is a problem in the Indian judiciary as far as ‘dynasty’ was concerned, Chandrachud said “it doesn’t work like that”.
DY Chandrachud’s father, Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud, served as the Chief Justice of India from 1978 to 1985.
“My father had said that I will not enter a court of law so long as he was Chief Justice of India. That was why I spent three years at Harvard Law School doing my studies. Second, I entered a court for the first time after he retired. Third, if you look at the overall profile of the Indian judiciary, most of the lawyers and judges are first time entrants into the legal profession,” Chandrachud said.
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Business NewsNewsIndiaIndian judiciary run by ‘upper caste, elite, Hindu males’? Ex-Chief Justice DY Chandrachud gives reality check
First Published:13 Feb 2025, 03:24 PM IST
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