Women empowerment important, there should be more participation of women in judiciary: President Droupadi Murmu

President of India Droupadi Murmu recently observed that since the judiciary is an integral part of society, it is essential to ensure women's active participation within it..She noted that the percentage of women judges in the Supreme Court was approximately 9 percent, while in High Courts, it was about 14 percent while advocating for the increased participation of women in the judiciary."Judiciary is also a part of the society; hence I think there should be proper participation of women here also," she said. .President Murmu was speaking at a foundation stone ceremony held on September 27 for the Annexe building of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Other dignitaries for the ceremony included Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Ravi Malimath, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, and Governor Mangubhai C Patel..President Murmu's speech at the event focused heavily on the need for women empowerment in India. She talked about the significance of women empowerment in building an inclusive India while citing the recent passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament."Empowerment of women is very important for India. In the Parliament held last week, an Act to reserve 33 percent seats for women in the Central and State Parliament was passed. I am confident that this initiative will be very revolutionary for the political empowerment of women," she said. .She added that women have a natural sense of innovation and that a rise in the number of women judges would aid the justice delivery system. "The process of giving justice is not based on any single mathematical formula. In the administration of justice, along with knowledge of books, use of behavior and intelligence is also expected. Other dimensions like emotions, circumstances, and sensitivity are also present in this process. Therefore, greater participation of women in the justice system will also be in the interest of the judiciary," she said. .She also recalled that in the ADM Jabalpur case, the High Court at Jabalpur ruled in favor of safeguarding the right to life and personal liberty."As people associated with the judiciary know, the decision given by the Jabalpur High Court in favor of life and personal liberty in the case of ADM Jabalpur vs Shivkant Shukla was overruled by the Supreme Court in the year 1976. Finally, after 42 years, in the year 2017, the Supreme Court changed its decision. The basic principles of the then decision given by the Jabalpur Court in favor of fundamental rights have been reestablished by the Supreme Court," the President recounted..Her speech also saw her urge that all those associated with the judiciary should aim to provide simple, accessible, and speedy justice to the general public."Today, the judiciary is facing challenges like large number of pending cases, huge number of undertrial prisoners, development in the infrastructure of courts etc. According to an estimate, about 4.5 crore cases are pending in the lower courts across the country, out of which cases are pending for 20 to 30 years," she noted.