Bar exam to bench, how are Indian women lawyers doing?

Women were allowed to practise law in India with the Legal Practitioners (Women) Act 1923. But a hundred years hence, data shows, they are still outnumbered by men at every stage, from taking the bar exam to taking on leadership positions across the spectrum of available opportunities.

Today, any person can practise before Indian courts only after qualifying in the Bar Council of India’s All India Bar Examination (AIBE), conducted biannually since 2010. Upon passing the exam, candidates receive a certificate of practice, which entitles them to enrol with a State Bar Council and practise law. The stated aim of introducing the AIBE was to enhance the quality of the legal profession.The 21st edition of the AIBE was conducted on 7 June this year, with results announced on 18 July. The Bar Council of India’s press release provides crucial statistics on the composition of candidates and pass percentages.

Of the total of 1,75,701 candidates who wrote the examination, less than 37 per cent were women, a minor improvement from just over 34 per cent in the previous edition. The qualifying percentage was almost identical for male and female candidates (65.92 per cent). This is a drop from the pass percentage for the 20th edition of AIBE (69.21 per cent), when female candidates recorded a pass percentage of 71 per cent as opposed to 66 per cent for male candidates.The gender disparity visible in these statistics is consistent with the most recent data on students pursuing law, published in the Ministry of Education’s 2023-24 All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE). Of the 7,67,149 students enrolled in law universities and colleges across the country, women make up just over 37 per cent (2,84,163). As AISHE relies on higher education institutions to submit data voluntarily, these numbers may not be comprehensive, but they are certainly indicative of the overall trends of legal education.These data points suggest two things. First, men outnumber women both in law school enrolment and in appearing for the AIBE. Second, female candidates are equally competent, given their similar, and at times slightly better, pass percentage.While these numbers highlight a stark gender disparity at the stages of legal education and entry into the profession, the picture becomes even more concerning when we examine the number of women enrolled in State Bar Councils, taking on leadership positions, being designated as senior advocates and rising through the ranks of the judiciary.