Justice BV Nagarathna, currently a Judge of the Karnataka High Court, could become the first woman Chief Justice Of India.
Is reported to be one of the names recommended by the Supreme court Collegium after meeting.
Born on October 30 1962, BV Nagarathna is the daughter of former CJI ES Venkataramiah. She assumed office as a Judge of the Karnataka High court in 2008.
She is presently ranked 33 in the seniority list of High Court judges in India.
Not a single woman judge has figured in the list of 48 Chief Justices of India since it came into existence on January 26, 1950. However, Justice BV Nagarathna can break this deadlock and become the first woman CJI.
With the Supreme court recommending names of three woman judges for elevation, the route may be clear for India to get its first woman CJI in 2027.
Justice Nagarathna came into the media spotlight in 2009, when she was detained, along with the then-Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, PD Dinakaran, by a group of protesting lawyers in the Karnataka High Court. Following the incident, Nagarathna made a public statement, calling out the Bar for trying to "dictate terms" to judges.
In 2012, she was part of the high court bench that directed the Central government to create a mechanism to regulate broadcast media.
In 2019, she was part of the bench that declared that temples are not a " commercial establishment", and its employees are not entitled to gratuity payment.
December 2020, in judgement on divorce case, she called out the "patriarchal system" for failing women. "People always say woman empowerment, but the society does not know how to treat an empowered woman.
During her 21 years of career as a lawyer, Justice Nagarathna took up cases involving constitutional law, commercial law including insurance law, service law, administrative and public law, the law pertaining to land and rent laws, and family law.