All-women bench to hear matters in SC

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud has constituted an all-women bench comprising Justices Hima Kohli and Bela M Trivedi to hear transfer petitions involving matrimonial disputes and bail matters on Thursday.

This is the third occasion in the history of the apex court that an all-women bench has been constituted.

The two-judge bench is currently sitting in Court number 11 of the top court.

The bench has 32 matters listed before it, starting with 10 transfer petitions involving matrimonial disputes and followed by 10 bail matters.

The first all-women bench was set up in 2013 when a bench of Justices Gyan Sudha Misra and Ranjana Prakash Desai was constituted followed by a bench of Justices R Banumathi and Indira Banerjee in 2018.

There are three women judges in the top court at present including Justice Kohli, B V Nagarathna, and Trivedi. Justice Nagarathna is also set to become first woman Chief Justice in 2027.

The apex court currently has a strength of 27 judges including the CJI, against a sanctioned strength of 34.