In a first, Indu Malhotra is going to bee first woman lawyer to be directly appointed as the Supreme Court Judge. Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph recommended her for the post. She was also the second woman in the country after Justice Leila Seth to be designated as Senior Advocate by Supreme Court in 2007. She has been practicing as a senior counsel in SC for past 29 years.
She received her early education from Carmel Convent School, New Delhi. She completed her B.A (Hons.) in Political Science from reputed Delhi University’s Lady Shri Ram College. She continued her Masters from the same college and then worked as a Lecturer in her Hons.subject in Miranda House College, University of Delhi. She started her legal career in 1983 and enrolled in the Bar Council of Delhi. Indu Malhotra secured Mukesh Goswami Memorial Prize for her 1st position in the exam for Advocate-on-Record.
Indu Malhotra has specialized in arbitration. The position is almost final as it only requires the approval from the government. According to the rule, the recommendations for appointments are sent to government and it has the power to return the file but it has to agree to the recommendation if the collegium reiterates. Indu Malhotra is set up to be the first woman lawyer to be directly appointed to the apex court. There have been two vacant seats on which appointments are to be made, Chief Justice Dipak Misra has decided to recommend two names.
The first woman to be appointed as Supreme court judge was Justice Fathima Beevi in 1989. At present, there are 25 judges in the apex court and only one of them is a woman, Justice R Bhanumathi. She was designated the post in August 2014.
Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph has been recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium to be transferred to the high court in Hyderabad after he had delivered a verdict in 2016 after which Harish Rawat came to power. But the central government did not clear the transfer. It happens usually that the central government clears the recommendation but the Modi government has returned the recommendation few times for re-evaluation.
The transfer of Justice Joseph was not cleared by the center and as a result, the Hyderabad high court does not have a Chief justice.
Just a month has passed after he had delivered the verdict in 2016 that allowed Harish Rawat to return to power in the state, the Supreme Court collegium had recommended the Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph’s transfer to the joint high court for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in Hyderabad. As for every setup technique, the suggestions of appointment, transfer, and elevation of significant court and the recommended judges are dispatched to the federal government. The governing administration can return the file the moment, but they normally agree to it if the collegium reiterates its advice.
