Chief Justice NV Ramana said that the country's courts lack proper infrastructure.
Law has often been seen as a rich man's profession but the situation is slowly changing, Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana said today, pointing out that there is a "huge vacancy" of judges and that the country's courts lack proper infrastructure.
"Law has often been seen as a rich man's profession. Slowly, the situation is changing. Opportunities are opening up. The legal profession still mainly remains an urban profession," Chief Justice Ramana said, speaking at an event organised by the Bar Council of India to felicitate him.
"An issue is that nobody can guarantee stability in the profession." He said he will present a report on the infrastructure in courts to Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju.
The Chief Justice also highlighted the lack of enough women in judiciary and legal fraternity. "I must admit that with great difficulty, we have achieved a meagre 11 per cent women representation in Supreme Court," he said.
The comments from India's top judge comes days nine judges, including three women, took oath as Supreme Court judges. With Justices BV Nagarathna, Hima Kohli and Bela M Trivedi sworn in, this is the highest number of sitting women judges the top court has ever had, including Justice Indira Banerjee.
A three-member Supreme Court Collegium - headed by Chief Justice Ramana - recommended 68 names in one go for elevation as judges to 12 High Courts. In all, 10 women who have been recommended for elevation.
"In my High Court days, I have seen that women don't get toilet facilities. Women lawyers faced difficulty. When I was judge, I tried changing things, improving resources," Chief Justice Ramana said today.