Time for a woman Chief Justice of India: CJI SA Bobde

"We have the interest of women in our minds, and we are implementing it best. There is no attitude change in us. The only thing is we have to get good candidates," Bobde said duing the hearing of the appointment of ad hoc judges to High Courts, reported NDTV.

Lawyers Sneha Khalita and Shoba Gupta, representing the Women Lawyers' Association, argued that a mere 11 per cent of women are in judiciary, and demanded that more women be promoted as judges.

Chief Justice Bobded, heading a three-judge bench, hearing the case, said: "The Chief Justices of High courts stated that many women are invited to come as judges. But they have declined, citing domestic responsibilities about children studying in Class 12 etc and Chief Justices of High Courts reported to me. These are things we can't discuss."

According to the report, the Chief Justice said every collegium pays attention to appoint women judges.

The women lawyers said out of the 25 High Courts in the country only one High Court has a woman Chief Justice -- Chief Justice  Hima Kohli at Telangana High Court.

Roughly 11.04 per cent that accounts for 73 out of 661 High Court judges are women, they said.

Moreover, five High Courts--Manipur, Patna,Tripura,Meghalaya and Uttarakhand--don't have a single woman judge, the women lawyers pointed out, the report stated.