New Delhi, June 2:
Senior advocate Venkita Subramani Mohana, who was appointed a judge in the Supreme Court on Monday, has become only the second woman in the country to be directly elevated to the apex court from the Bar after Justice Indu Malhotra in 2018.
Mohana will be one of the two serving women judges in the Supreme Court alongside Justice B V Nagarathna, who has been a judge in the top court since August 31, 2021.
Justice Nagarathna will also become the Chief Justice of India for more than a month in 2027.
Mohana, 59, graduated from the Coimbatore Law College in 1988 and has been practising since then. The Supreme Court designated her as a senior advocate in 2015.
She has appeared in several high-profile cases, including matters related to permanent commission for women officers in the armed forces, senior citizens’ property rights, and the Karnataka hijab ban case.
Mohana will be the 12th woman judge in the history of the Supreme Court, and the second to be elevated directly from the Bar. She will retire in June 2031.
Justice M Fathima Beevi was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court in 1989. She was elevated after serving as a high court judge.
At one point, when Justice Indu Malhotra was a judge, the Supreme Court had three women judges, with Justice R Banumathi and Justice Indira Banerjee being the other two.
Malhotra was sworn in as a top court judge directly from the Bar on April 27, 2018. She retired in March 2021.
There are presently two other judges in the top court who have been elevated directly from the Bar – Justices P S Narasimha and K V Viswanathan.
Mohana’s appointment is significant from a gender-representation perspective.