All-women bench set up in Supreme Court – only third time in history
A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Bela M Trivedi will hear petitions involving matrimonial disputes and bail matters.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Wednesday constituted an all-women bench comprising Justices Hima Kohli and Bela M Trivedi to hear petitions involving matrimonial disputes and bail matters, PTI reported.
This is only the third time an all-women bench has been constituted in the Supreme Court.
The bench will hear 10 transfer petitions, ten10 bail cases, nine civil cases and three criminal cases on Thursday, according to Bar and Bench. Last month, the chief justice had said that every bench of the Supreme Court will hear 10 transfer and bail petitions each on all working days to reduce cases on the supplementary list.
An all-women bench was first constituted in 2013 when Justices Gyan Sudha Misra and Ranjana Prakash Desai sat together temporarily in absence of another judge, according to PTI. In 2018, Justices R Banumathi and Indira Banerjee sat together.
At present, there are only three women judges in the Supreme Court – Justices BV Nagarathna, Kohli and Trivedi.
Justice Nagarathna is also slated to become India’s first woman chief justice in 2027.