Diversity on bench makes people feel like insiders within the system: Former CJI NV Ramana 

NEW DELHI: Noting that diversity on the bench leads to a diversity of opinions, one that is built upon their different experiences in the world, former CJI NV Ramana on Saturday said one of the facets for improving this is ensuring representation of persons belonging to minorities, regions and culture.

Speaking at the summit on Cultural Diversity and the Legal Profession organised by the Asian Australian Lawyers Association, Ramana also said that during his tenure as the CJI he attempted to ensure the appointment of judges from diverse backgrounds. 

“In all my time in the various collegia, and particularly during my time as the Chief Justice of India, I tried to ensure diverse representation on the Bench through the recommendations we sent. Almost all the recommendations made by us were cleared by the Government of India. I can proudly state that our recommendations resulted in the appointment of the greatest number of women judges on the Bench in the Supreme Court of India at any one point in time. India is also slated to get her first woman Chief Justice of India,” Ramana said. 

Acknowledging the absence of an institutional mechanism to ensure diversity on the Bench, Ramana said, despite a focus on ensuring representation of diversity in the political sphere, very few democracies, including India, have focussed attention on representation in the judicial system. 

“It is an issue that is being faced across the world, from the older democracies like the United States of America to young democracies like India. And due to the differences in the systems relating to the appointment of judges in different countries, perhaps there is no easy answer to this,” he also added. 

He also said that diversity on the bench leads to a diversity of opinions, one that is built upon their different experiences in the world. Ramana said, “They may have a more nuanced understanding of the differing impacts, that particular legislation or judgment may have on different communities or sections of the society. But beyond that, representation on the Bench has the important feature of making people feel like insiders within the system and not outsiders whose fate is being decided by someone unconnected. It has an important ‘signalling’ effect.