India became independent in 1947 but thus far no woman in India had the privilege of being the Chief Justice of India. Things have changed and it’s almost certain that in 6 years’ time, we will have Justice B V Nagarathna as CJI. She comes from a clan whose 2 generations have served as the CJI. Before that Chandrachuds had that privilege as D Y Chandrachud is likely to be CJI of India in November 2022.
Earlier his father named Y V Chandarachud has served as the CJI of India for 7 long years from 1978 to 1085. This has been the longest term served by a CJI of India. Justice B V Nagarathna is currently Chief Justice at Karnataka High Court. The recommendations will change a lot of things as the current bench of CJI that has a strength of 34 will be cut short to 33. Out of those 33, 4 seats will be reserved for women and this move has been a welcome move by many.
Justice B Venkataramiah Nagarathna had enrolled as an advocate in October 1987. She became an additional judge of Karnataka HC in 2007 and was made permanent in 2010. As per the system, she will have to serve another 5 years from here on, and then she will be eligible to become SJI in 2027. She will be replacing Justice Vikram Nath who is due to retire in September 2027.
Ever since this news broke out, people have started giving their opinions on the same. The move is a good one according to many as CJI posts shouldn’t be based on caste, color, or sex. Media has also become a hell-bunt in highlighting this as media is one industry where women are dominating. Women-centric feminism has been doing the rounds for a while now. One can take several examples and the Me Too movement was one of those.
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Post Me Too, Women have been given special reservations in various jobs and even the political arena has seen a large number of participation from women candidates. Women joining politics is not new but the count has certainly increased and even corporate jobs now have a good percentage of women working which earlier had very slim numbers. Women doing MBA or other PG courses from universities which were scarce a decade back has now had at least a 40% ratio.
Triple Talak Bill and other bills that have made women empower have been on every political party’s agenda. All in all, once she is appointed as CJI, she will also create history as Venkataramiah Nagarathna has come a long way and she becoming the CJI will go down in history as one of the best days in Indian Independence. Just like Pratibha Patil becoming the first women President of India, this victory will encourage a lot of young girls to take law as a profession.
