'Finding Our Place In The Sun': Telangana CJ Hima Kohli, Justice Anu Sivaraman Reflect on Sexual Harassment, Maternity Leave, And More In A Women's day Event

Speaking at a virtual event organised to mark International Women's Day, Chief Justice Hima Kohli of the Telangana High Court recounted an experience from her own time at the Bar, where a client embroiled in a tenancy dispute could not afford her fee, but she continued representing the client. The client (who was a seamstress) came up to Chief Justice Kohli, offering to starch her white saris and "return the courtesy", the Judge narrated, her voice breaking. "The satisfaction that one gets in being able to do something worthy, to make a difference in one's life, that's what one thrives on…", she added. Crediting the Bench for helping her gain a different perspective of what could be done for society, the Judge spoke of the satisfaction one could derive from achieving something worthwhile. The Judge then expanded on this theme and opined that the satisfaction of doing something worthwhile probably resonated with lawyers as well. Chief Justice Kohli, along with Justice Anu Sivaraman of the Kerala High Court, and Advocate Geeta Rameseshan of the Madras High Court were panellists at an event organised by the Kerala State Unit of the Indian Law Institute on Monday on the occasion of International Women's Day. The event was organised in conjunction with the Kerala Federation of Women Lawyers. Chief Justice Kohli delivered the women's day message, which was followed by a discussion among Chief Justice Kohli, Justice Sivaraman and Advocate Rameseshan on challenges facing women in the legal profession. In her opening remarks, Chief Justice Kohli's observed that the United Nations had declared the theme for this year's Women's Day to be 'Choose to Challenge'. She then remarked that women have always had challenges thrown at them, wherever they were. There would have to be challenges before triumphs, she continued. Expounding upon this theme, she explained that women juggled multiple roles as mothers, daughters, wives, sisters, members of the family and others. It was these women who in turn went out into the world into to face the challenges of the legal profession. Chief Justice Kohli, Justice Sivaraman, and Advocate Geeta Rameseshan, fielded questions from the moderator on issues ranging from their beginnings in the profession, perceptions around some areas of law not being suited to women, how there could be systemic changes within the legal profession to make it more amenable to the mentorship of young female practitioners, allow for maternity leaves, and importantly, reinforce structures and safe spaces for the reporting of cases of sexual harassment. On Sexual Harassment and the Legal Profession The panellists agreed that much more needed to be done when it came to addressing the issue of sexual harassment in the profession. "Sexual harassment is a problem. It is there in the profession, we cannot deny it. It is there among lawyers. There can be no denial of the fact that it is a problem and I don't think anybody wants to deny that, Advocate Rameseshan said Justice Sivaraman spoke of how despite systems in place after the Vishaka judgment and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, there was still reluctance to present complaints. Even with the system, how confident is the woman to approach the system? How competent is the system to actually deal with the issue? This is an area where we have to make the woman confident enough to come to us and to see that we are competent to solve?, Justice Sivaraman posited. Drawing from her experiences as head of the Sexual Harassment Committee at the Delhi High Court, Chief Justice Kohli said that very few people actually knew which forum needed to be approached when they were faced with sexual harassment. She narrated that complaints between lawyers, the State Bar Council was the forum and where the harassment was between employees of the High Court, the High Court Committee would work. Complaints as between lawyers and clerks went up before a separate body after which there was a first forum, an appellate forum, and ultimately the State Bar Council at the appeal stages. "Those levels were not even manned in many states, the bar councils had not set up these committees, unfortunately!" Chief Justice Kohli remarked. Speaking from two instances where the Committee at the High Court had to step in and successfully ensured the complainants stood firm and stuck to their stances, she said "It's very important for the Committee to be strong, and to be able to know where the problem is and how to deal with that by passing interim orders and keeping your control throughout the entire process of the complaint until it attains finality", Chief Justice Kohli underscored. Advocate Rameseshan added that where the complaints were between lawyers, women would hesitate approaching the Bar Councils and would...

'Finding Our Place In The Sun': Telangana CJ Hima Kohli, Justice Anu Sivaraman Reflect on Sexual Harassment, Maternity Leave, And More In A Women's day Event

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