Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice DY Chandrachud has rejected the idea that the Indian judiciary is dominated by elite, male, Hindu upper-caste individuals. Chandrachud, who retired in November 2024, opened up about a wide range of topics in an interview with Stephen Sackur on BBC's HARDtalk.
"If you look at the lowest levels of recruitment to the Indian judiciary, the district judiciary, which is the base of the pyramid, over 50 per cent of the new recruits coming into our states are women. There are states where the recruitment of women goes up to 60 or 70 per cent," he said while responding to a question on whether there is a dynasty problem in the Indian judiciary and whether it is dominated by elite, male, Hindu upper-caste men like him.
DY Chandrachud, who is the son of former CJI Justice YV Chandrachud, also revealed that his father had told him not to enter a court of law so long as he was the top jurist in the country.
"That's why I spent three years at Harvard Law School doing my studies. I entered a court for the first time after he retired. If you look at the overall profile of the Indian judiciary, most lawyers and judges are first-time entrants into the legal profession. So quite contrary to what you said, it is not that our judiciary is either upper caste or... in the higher echelons of judiciary, the movement of women to more responsible positions is just about taking place," he said.
He said the higher judiciary now reflects the status of the legal profession 10 years ago. "What's happening now, as the reach of education, particularly legal education, has reached women, that gender balance you find in law schools is now reflected in the lowest levels of Indian judiciary. In so far as gender balance is concerned, you find an increasing number of women coming into district judiciary and these women will be climbing up," he said.
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