The Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) of the Delhi High Court, Justice Vipin Sanghi, on Friday said the courts now comprise of many talented and competent woman lawyers who practise law, so now it is not at all difficult to pick women lawyers for elevation as judges

Justice Sanghi was attending a high tea hosted by the Delhi High Court Women Lawyers Forum when he said that the words of Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana should be put to action when he strongly advocates for more women on the Bench.

Justice Sanghi recollected his own time when his sister was not encouraged by anyone other than the family after joining the legal profession. He said that during those days not many women were part of the legal fraternity and it was never encouraged.

He went on to recall that when his sister joined as a lawyer, she had to rely on the encouragement of her family.

Justcie Sanghi gladly accepted that the situations have drastically improved in respect to prejudices that women don’t seriously look forward to legal world.The thought process about women practising law part time has totally been changed and people now know women can steer in the path as full time serious career .

Talking about lawyers, Justice Sanghi said, “We’ve had some remarkable women lawyers and the impression that one used to carry that women lawyers are not full-time has been broken.”

Delhi High Court judge Justice Rekha Palli also spoke about the changes that have taken place  in the legal environment which have made it easier for the women to balance their practice and family commitments,and this is a welcome move.

Justice Pillai recollected her own time and said, “I will say when I joined the profession, I took a break when I had children. Now you girls don’t have to do it! People and courts are understanding.”

She also urged women to multi-task “Women have to multitask! Please remember. I had many girls in my chamber. I always encouraged them to get married, you just have to multitask.”

Justice Sanghi and Justice Pillai praised  the initiative taken by the Delhi High Court Women Lawyers Forum in terms of providing a network for female legal professionals.

Justice Pillai added, “The best part of this forum is what we missed when we were younger. There was no network.”

Justice Sanghi told the women in the forum to not only continue the great work but also upload the same on YouTube so that more women can be a part of this and get encouraged.

The welcome speech was delivered by Senior Advocate Suruchi Aggarwal while Advocate Mrinalini Sen introduced the forum.

The Delhi High Court today asked for a status report on the recent vandalism outside the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence.

A two member bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla have given Delhi Police two weeks time to file the status report on the incident in a sealed cover.

The Bench during the hearing observed,

“We also find that police force is inadequate. Therefore, whosoever was there from Police, it appears they tried to stop them but they were outnumbered. So you will have to explain what was your bandobast.”

The submission by the  Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain’s that it will send a wrong message if the incident was monitored by the court, the court said

“If you feel so sensitive to notice being issued, we will say you appear on advance notice. We want to be satisfied that you are taking matter seriously.”

The petition in this case was filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj  who asked for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiry into the vandalism that recently took place outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s house.

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ASG Jain, who was appearing for the Central government, told the Court that a discussion has been held between the Delhi Police and Home Ministry to address the security threat. He also opposed the issuance of notice in the matter.

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Bharadwaj  told the Court,

“They have broken the gate and entered. Kindly reverse this scene for any other functionary. My lords, mayhem would break and there would be heads to roll and my learned friends says he will even oppose the notice.”

He further added,

“In a situation like this, we have only the constitutional courts to turn to. What is astonishing is that this person (BJP MP Tejasvi Surya) enjoys Z+ security.

Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra, making submissions for Bhardwaj then said,

“Delhi Police is not doing any charity. They say they will sit down with Secretariat. If something were to happen outside PMO, will they sit down? There was 20 minute blockade in Punjab. What happened there?”

On the other hand, Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, submitted that as far as the security concern of the CM is concerned, the Delhi Police will setup a meeting with CM Secretariat to work out a security arrangement.

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He urged the Bench to grant an opportunity to the concerned respondents to file a status report in the matter for perusal by the Court before issuance of notice in light of the cognisance of the alleged incident already taken by the Delhi Police and requisite actions being taken thereon.

Further, the DCP North assured the Court that all evidences relating to the alleged incident including the CCTV footage of incident in question around and in the vicinity of the CM’s residence shall be preserved.

The matter will be taken up for hearing on April 25, 2022.