Following the footsteps of the Kerala High Court, the Bombay High Court is setting up a crèche on its premises to facilitate young lady lawyers to bring along with them and keep their tiny children at the day-care centre while they are away inside courtrooms doing their professional work.
More than 700 practising lady lawyers at the Bombay High Court will have something to cheer and celebrate when Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra throws open the crèche on the High Court premises to their children on Saturday, in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
If the crèche is becoming a reality, it is mainly because of a sympathetic Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court Manjula Chellur who acted swiftly on a request for setting up a day-care centre on the court premises made by the Advocates’ Association of Western India (AAWI) in October last year.
“We are extremely grateful to Chief Justice Manjula Chellur who being a woman understood the young lady lawyers’ need for a crèche on the High Court and went about the task of setting up the day-centre meticulously and delivered on her promise,” AAWI President Rajiv Chavan told The Pioneer here on Friday.
Incidentally, CJ Chellur brings with her the experience of seeing setting of its first
of its kind crèche at the Chief Justice of Kerala High Court, where she worked as the Chief Justice earlier.
“It is a basic need for a lawyer-mother to be able to take her child to the court where there could be a good play area for her child. It is natural that the mother wishes her child could be in safe hand while she is in the court. If both husband and wife are lawyers are lawyers, a crèche will benefit both of them,” Chavan said.
“On October 7 last year when we broached with her the need for setting up for crèche on the court, Chief Justice Chellur had keen evinced interest. We took up the issue formally with her on the international women’s day ( March 8) this year in the presence of women judges and lawyers. After we submitted a memorandum, we knew that she would go about the whole thing quickly,” the AAWI chief said.
Being set up on 1100 sq feet area, the crèche on the Bombay High Court can accommodate 50 children.
Chief Justice Chellur has set up a three-committee of judges — comprising Justices Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi, Mridula Bhatkar and AK Menon — to decide on the proposed arrangements at the creche, including the persons to look after the children and play equipment.
“We have suggested to the committee to outsource the services rather than asking someone from the court administration to look after the day-t0-day functioning at the crèche. If the services are outsourced, the lady lawyers will pay for the services. Ultimately it is for the judges’ committee to take the final call,” Chavan said.
With the crèche in the Bombay High Court in place, the AAWI is rooting for similar crèche facility at courts in prominent towns and cities like Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nashik and Thane. “We have requested the Chief Justice to give directions to the district courts to start crèche facility or associate with the closest crèches to make the environment of the legal profession more gender-balanced,” Chavan said.