Indu Malhotra Sworn In As SC Judge Amid Row Over Justice Joseph’s Appointment

New Delhi: The Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra administered oath to senior lawyer Indu Malhotra on Friday. Indu is the first woman lawyer to be directly appointed as the Supreme Court judge and only the seventh woman judge in the apex court since Independence.

An alumni of Delhi University, Indu entered judicial system in 1983 and was a part of the Bar Council of Delhi. Her tenure as the Supreme Court Judge will be a little over three years.

A prominent name in the legal fraternity, Indu has appeared in several educational cases and was also a member of the Vishaka Committee on sexual harassment at workplaces.

However, the swearing-in ceremony comes in the wake of yet another stand-off between the Centre and the Judiciary, with the former sending back the recommendation of Justice KM Joseph to the Collegium for reconsideration.

The decision is being viewed as political, with several top names in the legal system and opposition Congress stating that stay on Justice Joseph’s appointment was a result of his decision to reject President’s rule in Uttarakhand in 2016.

In fact, there were demands to put on hold advocate Indu’s swearing in as a Supreme Court Judge, which was out-rightly rejected by CJI Misra, citing it to be “unthinkable, unimaginable and inconceivable.”