The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial authority in India and serves to protect the constitutional rights of the people of India. On Monday, Justice Indira Banerjee was elevated from a High Court Judge to a Supreme Court judge. With the appointment of Justice Banerjee, she became only the 8th woman to hold that coveted position since Independence. And for the first time ever – the Supreme Court has three sitting women judges.

Banerjee,  is an alumnus of Kolkata’s Presidency College. On July 5, 1985, she started her professional career as an advocate, practicing both in the Original and Appellate Sides of Calcutta High Court. She became a high court judge on February 5, 2002, and was made chief justice of the Calcutta High Court on April 5, 2017. She will retire on September 23, 2022.

Among the three sitting women judges, Justice R Banumathi is the senior most and was elevated to the apex court on August 13, 2014. The first woman judge of the apex court was Justice Fathima Beevi and  was appointed to Supreme Court in 1989. She was elevated to the apex court after her retirement as a judge of the Kerala High Court. At present, the SC has 22 judges. With Friday’s appointments, it will have six vacancies. The appointments ended the six-month-long standoff over the elevation of Justice Joseph.

The SC collegium, headed by CJI Dipak Misra, had on January 10, recommended the elevation of Justice Joseph along with senior advocate Indu Malhotra. The Modi government agreed to the elevation of Malhotra, returned the Joseph recommendation. The collegium had reiterated his name for the post on July 16.

As carried in ID