There may be glaring gender disparity in the top courts, including Supreme Court and various high courts in the country, but Jharkhand is all set to get gender balance in appointment of judges in subordinate judiciary at the entry level.
Of the 46 candidates recommended by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) a few days back to be appointed as Civil Judge (Junior division), earlier known as Munsif Magistrates, 22 are women, almost 50 percent.
Not only that. Seven out of the top 10 positions have been grabbed by girls and women. To cap it all, eight out of 12 candidates recommended in Scheduled Tribes (ST) category are women.
While in the general category, some top candidates are from other states too, but would-be tribal civil judges are all “girls of the soil”, sending the message that they can do wonders if they get a proper opportunity to educate themselves.
Several of them are said to be graduates from national law schools and other premier law schools in the country. They could get an opportunity to study in these colleges as their parents were posted in these cities for jobs. According to sources, a couple of them were so confident of their success that they told the interview board not to be considered in the reserved category.
And these women have achieved the feats not making entry through reservation but on their merit only. While reservation is provided for women in subordinate judiciary in some states, Jharkhand has no provision as such.
According to sources, the representation of women in the subordinate judiciary has gradually increased over the years in the State.
The first examination conducted for appointment of 150 Munsif Magistrates, the success rate of women was around two to three percent. It increased up to 10 percent in 2008 and 20 in 2012. With the latest appointments, the representation of women in subordinate judiciary will exceed 30 percent.
The cadre strength of Civil Judge (Junior division) is 504 in the State. There is still a vacancy of 75 posts.
According to sources involved in the appointment process, more and more girls are opting legal profession after medicine now.
The reason is that salary and perks for a civil judge is attractive. At present, a civil judge will get something around Rs 57,000 besides, other perks and facilities. The package is soon to be revised making the take home salary at least Rs 70,000. Above all, they will always be posted in urban areas.
“It is a health trend. In a democracy, the judiciary must be a mirror of the whole society. A larger number of women in the judiciary would promote gender equality,” commented a legal expert.
Also, the Central Government has time and again stressed on the desperate need to appoint more women judges, not only to redress the glaring gender disparity but also to ensure that women get a significant say in the process of appointment of judges.
Ironically, the Supreme Court, which has a working strength of 28 judges, has only one woman judge, Justice R Banumathi.
Of the 24 high courts (whose total strength is 631), 8, including Jharkhand high court have no women judges and in the remaining 16 (whose total strength is 574), we have only 68 women judges.