For the second time in the history of India, the Supreme Court will witness an all-women bench comprising Justices R Banumathi and Indira Banerjee on September 5. Previously in 2013, an all-women bench comprising Justices Gyan Sudha Misra and Ranjana Prakash Desai sat together for hearing a case.
In August, Justice Banerjee was sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court and with this, the apex court for the first time has three sitting women judges. Justice Banerjee is the eighth woman judge in the apex court since Independence. Out of the three sitting women judges, Justice Banumathi is the senior-most and was elevated to the Supreme Court on August 13, 2014.
Looking into the history of the appointments, Justice Fathima Beevi was the first ever woman judge in the top court. Following her appointment, many other women judges came to secure the post. They include — Justices Sujatha Manohar, Ruma Pal, Gyan Sudha Misra, Ranjana Prakash Desai, R Banumathi, Indu Malhotra and the latest addition being Indira Banerjee.
It is to be noted that out of all the women judges, Justices Beevi, Pal and Manohar served their entire tenure in the apex court as sole women judges. Only in 2011, with Justice Desai being elevated to the top post, the Supreme Court witnessed two sitting women judges.
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