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The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Thursday informed the Delhi High Court that it would hold a General Body Meeting (GBM) within two months to discuss the nomination of women lawyers as its executive members.
SCBA president Adish Agarwala made the submission before the bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain during a hearing on a plea of a woman lawyer for a direction to call a GBM to consider amendments in rules and regulations to ensure two positions of member executive committee for woman lawyers. After noting the submissions, the high court disposed of the plea moved by advocate Yogmaya G, a practising lawyer and member of SCBA. She had moved a petition through advocates Bineesh K, Nandana Menon and Anjitha Santosh. The petitioner contested the Bar Election in 2023 for the post of member executive committee but lost. It was stated that 11 women lawyers contested for this post but none was elected. She sent a representation to the Chief Justice of India and the president of SCBA, requesting that a General Body Meeting (GBM) be called to amend the rules to ensure that at least two positions are reserved for women lawyers. Thereafter, she sought an intervention from the high court and a direction to the SCBA to convene a General Body Meeting (GBM) to amend the rules of the Bar. The petitioner stated that gender equality is a constitutional goal and recent amendments such as the Constitutional (One Hundred Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Act, 2023, are aimed at allocating 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State assemblies. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments in 1993 reserved 33 per cent seats for women in local self-government bodies. Many states, including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Kerala, legally ensure 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies. "Article 243D (3) and (4) of the Indian Constitution mandate at least one-third reservation for women in seats filled by direct election and one-third of the chairperson positions in Panchayati Raj Institutions," the plea stated. "Additionally, Article 243ZJ (1) stipulates that state legislatures must legislate to reserve two seats for women on the boards of every cooperative society with individual members," it added. It stated further that constitutional provisions like Article 14 ensure the Right to Equality, Article 39(d) safeguards women's economic rights by ensuring equal pay for equal work while Article 42 enables the state to establish just and humane working conditions, including maternity relief. (ANI)
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