Any society which wants to grow cannot keep half of its population in shackles, Delhi High Court Acting Chief Justice Manmohan said while addressing women lawyers recently.
Justice Manmohan stressed that the Constitution has empowered women and they must use their skills to promote the cause they believe in.
You people are trained in law. You realise where the fault lines are. You must use your knowledge and skill to change the system
Any society which intends to grow cannot keep 50% of its population shackled, he said.
Justice Manmohan was speaking at the 3rd Annual Tea Soiree organised by the Delhi High Court Women Lawyers Forum on May 3.
He said that promoting gender equality is the need of the hour and that we are living in a very transformative phase.
When I joined the profession, there was only one woman judge. Today, we have nine. I am sure with passage of time, their ratio will get even better. Today in the Delhi Higher Judicial Services (DHJS), we have 66% males and around 33% females. But in the last few years, nearly 66% women have been recruited in the Delhi Judicial Services (DJS). Once women are at the base in such large numbers, more of them will come up and occupy the top position. The pool has widened and I think a collective like this [Delhi High Court Women Lawyers Forum] will be better for that.
Justice Rekha Palli of the Delhi High Court also spoke on the occasion. She said that when she became a lawyer, there were only 10 women who shared a small, dingy bar room.
It has gotten bigger now but we need an ever-bigger space
If we women have to progress, we have to stand for each other. Thats how we will progress. Whenever you are doing something, remember that you are representing a class altogether, she said.
The senior-most woman judge of the Delhi High Court further said that law is not a boys club anymore.
It is now becoming a womens club. I think even the Chief Justice [Acting Chief Justice Manmohan] cannot overrule me on this [in a lighter vein]. We now have some young beaming lawyers and many seniors as well. The new dawn is coming. When this dawn comes, you will have to thank all the women who came before us. The women who stood up when there were very few of them.
Justice Palli added that the profession of law is for everybody and women should not be discouraged when someone says its not for them.
