March 08, 2026 : Women continue to remain significantly underrepresented in India’s higher judiciary, with their presence forming only a small fraction of the overall judicial strength across High Courts and the Supreme Court.
According to data released by the Ministry of Law and Justice on February 6, 2026, there are 116 women judges out of a working strength of 781 judges across the High Courts, accounting for roughly 14.85% of the sitting High Court judges in the country.
Representation in the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of India currently has only one woman judge, Justice B. V. Nagarathna out of its present working strength of 33 judges.
No woman judge has been appointed to the Supreme Court since September 2021, when three women judges — Justice Hima Kohli, Justice Bela Trivedi and Justice B. V. Nagarathna were elevated to the court together. Over time, as the other two judges retired, Justice Nagarathna remains the only woman currently serving on the bench.
Historically, the highest number of women judges in the Supreme Court at any given time has been four, a milestone briefly reached after the 2021 appointments.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant called for steps to improve gender representation in the higher judiciary. He noted that the situation is relatively better in the subordinate judiciary, where women account for nearly 37% of judges in district courts across the country.
High Courts: Overall Picture
Across the 25 High Courts in India, gender representation varies significantly.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has the highest number of women judges, with 18 women out of a working strength of 61, accounting for 29.51% of its bench.
The Delhi High Court and the Madras High Court follow with 10 women judges each, representing 22.73% and 18.87% of their benches respectively.
Other High Courts with relatively better representation include the Bombay High Court (12 women judges), Karnataka High Court (9), Calcutta High Court (8), Gujarat High Court (7), and Telangana High Court (7).
Among smaller High Courts, the Sikkim High Court records the highest percentage representation at 33.33%, though this figure is based on one woman judge out of a total strength of three.
Courts With Low Representation
Several High Courts continue to report very low representation of women judges.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has only one woman judge out of 42 judges, representing just 2.38% of its bench one of the lowest ratios in the country.
Similarly, the Allahabad High Court, which is the largest High Court with a working strength of 110 judges, has only seven women judges, accounting for 6.36% of its bench.
Other High Courts with limited representation include the Kerala High Court (7.5%), Jharkhand High Court (7.14%), Chhattisgarh High Court (6.67%), Patna High Court (5.26%), and the Orissa High Court (5.26%).
High Courts With No Women Judges
Some High Courts currently have no women judges at all. These include the Manipur High Court, Tripura High Court, and Uttarakhand High Court, each reporting zero women judges in their present working strength.
The data highlights the continuing gender gap in the higher judiciary, even as the representation of women improves gradually in the lower courts.
