Police
Who became the first woman lawyer to be directly appointed (from the Bar) as a judge of the Supreme Court of India?
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option A — Indu Malhotra
Detailed Solution
Justice Indu Malhotra was sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court of India on 27 April 2018. She became the first woman lawyer (advocate) to be directly elevated from the Bar to the Supreme Court. All earlier women judges of the Supreme Court had been promoted from the High Courts.
About Indu Malhotra:
She was born in 1956 in Bengaluru.
She practised law in the Supreme Court for about 30 years and specialised in arbitration law. She wrote a well-known book, "The Law and Practice of Arbitration and Conciliation".
In 2007, she became the second woman to be designated a "Senior Advocate" by the Supreme Court. (The first was Justice Leila Seth, in 1977.)
She was part of important judgements, such as the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the Navtej Singh Johar case (2018). In the Sabarimala case (2018), she was the only judge on the five-judge bench to dissent, holding that courts should not interfere with religious practices.
She retired in March 2021.
Other women "firsts" in the Supreme Court:
- Fathima Beevi (1989): the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India, and the first Muslim woman judge in any higher judiciary in Asia. She later became Governor of Tamil Nadu.
- Sujata Manohar (1994): the second woman judge.
- Ruma Pal (2000): the third woman judge.
In 2021, three women judges (Hima Kohli, B. V. Nagarathna and Bela M. Trivedi) were sworn in on the same day, the most women ever appointed together.
Justice B. V. Nagarathna is in line to become the first woman Chief Justice of India in 2027.
In the Supreme Court, a judge can be appointed from among High Court judges (with five years' service), advocates of a High Court (with ten years' practice), or distinguished jurists (Article 124(3)). Indu Malhotra was appointed under the advocate category.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Fathima Beevi was the first woman judge of the Supreme Court, promoted from the High Court.
- ✗Ruma Pal was the third woman judge, also from the High Court.
- ✗V. Nagarathna is expected to become the first woman Chief Justice of India.
Quick tip
Remember: First woman directly elevated from the Bar to the Supreme Court = Indu Malhotra (2018); first woman SC judge = M. Fathima Beevi (1989); first woman CJI expected = B. V. Nagarathna (2027).
💬 Discussions on this question
Ask a doubt ›Still stuck on this question? Ask our faculty and fellow students — answers appear here.
Ask a doubtMore Firsts in India & World Questions
View all ›More General Knowledge Questions
- Q1.The techniques of Rasa and Bhava used in Indian classical dance trace their origin to which ancient text?Indian Dance Forms
- Q2.Lavani, Powada, Koli, Waghya Murali and Dhangari Gaja are folk dances of which state?Indian Dance Forms
- Q3.The one-act play associated with the Sattriya tradition of Assam is called:Indian Dance Forms
- Q4.Which dance form of Goa is known as the 'Warrior Dance'?Indian Dance Forms
- Q5.Manipuri dance is based on the Rasleela themes of:Indian Dance Forms
Firsts in India & World — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Firsts in India & World, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the first persons and events in India and the world: the first Indian to win a Nobel Prize, the first woman to hold major offices, the first to climb Everest or reach space, and India's first institutions, newspapers, railways and satellites. It also covers the largest, longest, highest and smallest records in India and the world. These are pure memory questions, so revise them as short lists by theme: first women, first in sports, first in science and space, and first in governance. Be careful with the exact wording, such as 'first Indian' versus 'first person of Indian origin', or 'first woman President' versus 'first woman Prime Minister', since options are often designed to exploit this. Practise the firsts in India and the world questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.