Justice Sunita Agarwal joins Supreme Court, taking women judges to three

Justice Sunita Agarwal, until now Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, was sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday, October 6, 2026. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant administered the oath to her and to Justices Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Aparesh Kumar Singh at a ceremony at the Supreme Court. Her elevation raises the number of women judges on the country's top court from two to three. The three appointments took the court's working strength to 37, including the Chief Justice, against a sanctioned strength of 38.

India's Supreme Court decides questions that shape everyday life, from personal liberty and property to elections and the limits of government power. Who sits on it, and how varied their experience is, matters for how those questions are answered. Even today, three women among 37 judges is less than a tenth of the court.

Each new appointment of a woman therefore carries weight beyond the individual. Justice Agarwal comes to the court after more than a decade as a high court judge and three years leading a high court, which means experience in running a court as well as deciding cases. Her tenure, running to April 2031, is long enough to give her a role in many important benches.

The appointment also points to a pattern under the current collegium, which has now recommended two women for elevation. Lawyers and judges who have long pressed for more women on the bench see such appointments as a test of whether the pipeline is widening. Advocates for diversity often say women's representation thins at each step up the judicial ladder, and senior appointments are the clearest signal of change at the top.

For young women considering a career in law, visible role models at the highest level matter. A judge who rose from a high court bench to the Chief Justice's chair and then to the Supreme Court shows a route that is open, even if still narrow.

Short-term: The Supreme Court gains three judges, bringing it close to full strength, and a third woman judge joins its benches.

Long-term: A longer tenure gives Justice Agarwal the chance to shape significant rulings, and continued appointments of women could gradually change the make-up of India's top court.

Who is affected: Litigants and lawyers before the Supreme Court, the Gujarat High Court, which will need a new chief justice, and women in the legal profession.

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