Give up movies, parlour; dedicate time to law: Justice Prathiba M Singh to women lawyers

Delhi High Court judge Justice Prathiba M Singh urged women lawyers not to seek sympathy from court since it will lead to the Bench stereotyping them. .Justice Singh also advised female lawyers to ditch the attitude that one must sacrifice either work or family and to instead, break stereotypes and devise ways to balance and multi-task. "Don't seek sympathy from the court. Don't tell how you will pick up your child. That stereotypes you," she said.She also called on women lawyers to devote their time and attention to law practice, by cutting short time spent on going to parlours or watching movies."Be competent, give up Bollywood movies and parlour time. Dedicate to law. Pick your battles. Don't fight with all," she said..Justice Singh was speaking on the achievements and challenges of women at the Bar at an event organised by 'Women in Law and Litigation' to felicitate judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Hima Kohli.At the event, Justice Singh was introduced as a superstar in the field on Intellectual Property Law..The Delhi High Court judge said that a focus on specialisation, rather than a sacrificing attitude, is essential for women to progress in the field of law."Specialisation is helpful for women. Always keep a domestic help, always keep drivers. Don't have a sacrificing attitude. Take children with you while briefing senior counsels and make them do their homework. This is what I did during my tenure".Face the stress that may arise from that with a smile and perhaps, "your child may feel mummy 'ghar pe nahi hoti' (is not at home) but one day he will be proud that you are a lawyer," she said..While she had words of praise for the Delhi High Court , which she described as the most cosmopolitan court where religion, caste and marital status are irrelevant, she did opine that that women who were designated as senior lawyers at the Court often had to be work twice as hard than their male counterparts."It is not about glass ceiling anymore, there is no ceiling. I would like to tell the judges and lawyers of Delhi High Court, thank you for believing that women are not only good for passovers and adjournments", she said..In such an environment, perhaps the pandemic has been a boon for women lawyers who can now appear virtually from home and have their own work space, she surmised..She concluded with a reminder of how far women have progressed in the field of law where once, Justice Leila Seth, the first female judge of the Delhi High Court, was a source of wonder for the people of the country who had not seen or perhaps even imagined, that a woman could be Judge. "Hard work and perseverance will pay off. As we go forward, nobody will come and wonder what happened to Justice Leila Seth in 1998. She was informed that there was a group of farmers in her court who saw the zoo first and then they were there to see a woman judge!".Supreme Court judge, Justice Indira Banerjee and Delhi High Court judge, Justice Rekha Palli also spoke at the event where Chief Justice of India NV Ramana was the chief guest.