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Speaking at an event to commemorate the first ever International Day of Women Judges, hosted by the Supreme Court, Justice Bela M Trivedi said that the wholeness and completeness of justice also demands equal representation of Shiva and Shakti that is men and women judges on bench.

Answering a question she posed herself, which was why equal representation of women in judiciary was important when the job of a judge is to interpret the law, Justice Trivedi remarked,

"It is only to balance the scale of justice. It is said that the whole world is nothing but cosmic dance of lord Shiva and one of the forms of Shiva is Ardh Nareshwar which is the lord who is half woman and the other half is man...this form of Lord Shiva represents the wholeness and completeness of human existence."

At the start of her speech, Justice Trivedi said that gender equality was a part of the sustainable goals set out by the United Nations in 2015 to be achieved by 2030.

Justice Trivedi also referred to the 2021 data of the Law Ministry, as per which 12 percent High Court judges and 28 percent district court judges are women.

"In 2021, history was created when three women judges were elevated and for that we are grateful to CJI Ramana", she added.

She further said that such miniscule representation of women in the judiciary would nurture a belief that women do not belong in leadership rules though the symbol of justice is a lady.

In her speech, Justice Trivedi also referred to examples of Justice Anna Chandy, one of the first female judge appointed during the British Empire who held her ideals of autonomy close to her and Justice Leila Seth, the first woman judge of Himachal Pradesh High Court who set up various enquiry commissions during her judgeship.

Concluding her address, Justice Trivedi said that while there was no simple solution to bias, increasing the diversity of judges would reduce the likelihood of bias which may occur due to lopsided representation of one gender in the judiciary.

The event can be viewed here.