The Supreme Court today issued notice on a PIL filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association seeking adequate representation in government panels, retainership opportunities, and caregiving support for women advocates as well as minimum stipend support for junior advocates.

A bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana passed the order and tagged the plea with a similar pending matter.

Briefly put, the petition has been filed by SCBA primarily seeking gender inclusive representation and equitable professional opportunities for women advocates across the country. It seeks a policy for ensuring adequate representation of women advocates in government panels as well as non-discriminatory mechanism for equitable allocation of government litigation work, briefing and retainership opportunities.

The SCBA further seeks caregiving support for women advocates in the form of maternity assistance, mental health support, childcare support, and accommodations in listing and appearance obligations on account of pregnancy/childbirth/primary caregiving emergencies without adverse professional consequences.

It also seeks networking opportunities, adequate allotment of lawyers' chambers to young and first-generation women advocates, and "returnship programmes" for women advocates returning to the profession after career breaks.

The petition argues that women advocates face systemic discrimination at the time of joining the profession itself, thereby undermining the guarantee of substantive equality under Articles 14, 15, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution.

It further underscores that gender inequality in the legal space is reflected not only in the professional representation in the Bar but also by the severe under-representation of women in higher judiciary. In this regard, it is highlighted that as of May 2026, the Supreme Court had only 1 woman judge (out of a total sanctioned strength of 38) and only 11 out of 279 judges appointed to the Court have been women. Moreover, over a history of 75 years, the Court has not had even a single woman Chief Justice.

It is contended that the High Courts and Tribunals face similar gender disparities. On the Executive front, the plea cites the observation of former Supreme Court judge, Justice Hima Kohli, that in the last 75 years, no woman has been appointed as the Attorney General or Solicitor General of India. Infact, only 6 women have been appointed as Additional Solicitor Generals since independence.

The plea refers to the results of two surveys conducted by the SCBA to ascertain issues faced by women advocates and take suggestions - (1) a pilot survey in Delhi NCR and (2) a national survey released by CJI Surya Kant in March 2026. Based on the responses received, the SCBA claims that two issues demand priority consideration - (a) equal access and equal opportunity, and (b) formal representation and reservation.

"Around 72.3% of responses stated that gender adversely affects professional networking opportunities, thereby directly impacting referrals, briefing opportunities, empanelment, allocation of cases, and senior designation. Similarly, 60% responses identified limited work opportunities as a major professional challenge, while 42.8% of responses identified networking barriers and 40.2% of responses highlighted pay inequality."

The plea further states that 53.9% majority in the national survey was of the view that senior designation came easily to male advocates, while about 55% perceived that government panel appointments were easier for men. Most notably, 67.28% of the responses supported a mandatory policy for adequate representation of women advocates in government panel posts, while 80.5% backed minimum reservation for women in appointments to higher judiciary.

The petition was drafted by Advocates Tanya Gupta, S Harini and Arjun, settled by Senior Advocates Vikas Singh, Monika Gusain, and Dr Anandita Pujari and filed through AoR Pragya Baghel.

Case Title: SUPREME COURT BAR ASSOCIATION v. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS., W.P.(C) No. 825/2026