Creating history in more ways than one, the Supreme Court accorded the status of senior advocate to 39 lawyers on Wednesday. Not only does the list take the number of women getting the tag this year to 21 – nine more than the total figure before that – but it also marks the first time a lawyer from Manipur has been given the status.
BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj was among the 10 women lawyers who were designated senior advocates on Wednesday.
With the new additions, under the leadership of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, the Supreme Court has given the designation to 100 lawyers this year alone. Of these, 21 have been women, which is a significant milestone since only 12 women advocates had been designated senior advocates in the history of the top court before 2024.
The 10 women on the latest list include Aparna Bhat, Anindita Pujari, India Sawhney and Kavita Jha. Ms Sawhney, 72, had filed the petition which had led to the Supreme Court imposing the 50% cap on reservation.
Ngangom Junior has also been given the status of a senior advocate, making him the first person from Manipur to get the designation. Some other people on the list are Nalin Kohli, Shadan Farasat, Rahul Kaushik, Rudreshwar Singh, MR Shamshad and Rishi Malhotra.
The list has lawyers in the 39 to 73 age group with K Parameshwar as the youngest and MC Dhingra as the oldest.
In January, the Supreme Court’s full bench headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud had given the status of senior advocate to 56 lawyers, of which 11 were women. Five others got the designation in March.
