Justice Sujata Manohar, Awarded The Ruth Bader Ginsberg Medal Of Honor, Says It’s Still Hard For Women Lawyers To Make A Mark.
When I was studying law, I went into it with a certain expectation, begot from watching Bollywood movies and TV series like Suits. The illusion shattered pretty soon, and even though I received my degree, I chose to go down the passion path and pursue writing. But one thing that was true for both fiction and reality was just how rare it was to see women make it in the cutthroat world of law. Women lawyers on screen always had to have an extra edge, or were always a very major plot point, or sometimes driven by too much emotion. Unlike male lawyers who were written as regular characters. And I didn’t have to look too far to see that even if my batch had a healthy ratio of male and female law students, not many of the women went on to actually practice litigation in court. So today, when Justice Sujata Manohar, who recently became the first Indian jurist to be awarded the Ruth Bader Ginsberg Medal of Honour, said that things are still tough for women lawyers in the field, I agreed with her a hundred percent.
Former Supreme Court judge, Justice Sujata Manohar awarded Ginsburg Medal of Honour#SujataManohar #RuthBaderGinsburg
Read more: https://t.co/54mJUzwl8A pic.twitter.com/hJ08k5z6jN
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) July 11, 2021
But before we discuss those remarks more, let’s take a moment to acknowledge the incredible honour and achievements of former Retd. Justice Sujata Manohar. The 86-year-old former Supreme Court judge has a lot of firsts to her name. For example, she became the first woman judge of Bombay High Court upon her appointment in 1978. According to LiveLaw, she was also one of the two High Court judges from India chosen to participate in the course on Patent Trial held in Beijing under WIPO and he United Nations, in 1986. Justice Manohar was a member of the National Human Rights Commission of India. She is also an honorary bencher of Lincoln’s Inn, which is one of the four Inns of Court in London, a group of elite professional associations for barristers in England and Wales.
And on July 5, 2021, Sujata Manohar added another laurel to her hat, by being one of eight other jurists from the world to be felicitated at an international gathering of jurists organised by the World Jurist Association and the World Law Foundation in Madrid, Spain. The Ruth Bader Ginsberg Medals Of Honor is an award named after the former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court who was the first Jewish woman and the second woman to serve on the Court, and an eminent jurist of the liberal wing who championed (via fierce dissent) for several important causes, particularly gender discrimination, abortion rights, and civil rights. She held her position since her appointment in 1993 until her passing in September 2020.
Sujata Manohar, Justice of the Supreme Court of India (1994-1999) and member of the National Human Rights Commission of India (2000-2004) @UNHumanRights will receive one of the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Medals of Honor during the Opening Session #Madrid of the #WorldLawCongress #India pic.twitter.com/2ENApmHmvB
— World Jurist Association (@worldjurist) July 1, 2021
The Ruth Bader Ginsberg Medals of Honour are awarded to outstanding female jurists who have in their position as justices, promoted society’s efforts in matters of gender equality. Justice Sujata Manohar, now an awardee, has reportedly had the honour of meeting RBG in Washington! What a meeting of greats that would’ve been! Other honourees include Christine Lagarde, Gillian Triggs, Luz Ibáñez, Maite Oronoz, Navi Pillay, Rosario Silva Lapuerta, and Young Hye Kim.
Justice Sujata Manohar accepted the award virtually. She was also felicitated by the Bombay Bar Association for receiving this award. And it is during this ceremony that she addressed the issues plaguing the progress of female lawyers in the field as well as question of gender discrimination in India.
Speaking about female lawyers, Justice Manohar said that despite the prejudices going down compared to her time in Bombay High Court when there were just 5-7 female lawyers, it is still hard for female lawyers to make their mark. However, they should not get discouraged in the face of such prejudice and continue to persevere and overcome with their good work.
On the subject of gender discrimination, Justice Sujata Manohar said, “The most important question before India however remains the question of sex discrimination practised as a result of customary laws, cultural norms and personal laws based on religion, especially the personal laws of the minorities. The Supreme Court of India has taken the view that this kind of discrimination can be removed only through legislation.”
She added, “It is, therefore, necessary that proper leadership and support is given to those who are affected by such discrimination to voice their grievances and bring about changes in discriminatory laws. As lawyers, we are justified in putting our faith in the rule of law as a guarantor of peace and security in the world. Gender equality is an aspect of the rule of law—laws that do not discriminate on grounds of race and religion, colour, gender, caste or any other irrelevant ground.”
Congratulations to Justice Sujata Manohar, and we hope her words and actions encourage and inspire generations of female lawyers and pave a way for more of them in the higher echelons of our legal system.
Featured Image Source: Bar&Bench
