Retiring Justice Hima Kohli Urges CJI To Fill Vacancy With A Woman Judge

Justice Hima Kohli, the eighth woman to serve on the Supreme Court, concluded her four-decade-long legal career on Friday. This marked the end of her 40-year association with the judiciary, which included 18 years as a constitutional court judge and 22 years as a practicing lawyer. As she bid farewell, she made a final appeal to Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, urging him to appoint a woman judge to fill the vacancy created by her retirement.

Hima Kohli is the first female Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court. She was sworn into the position on January 7, 2021. She assumed charge as Judge of the Supreme Court on August 31, 2021.

Who is Hima Kohli

1. Justice Hima Kohli was born on September 2, 1959, in Delhi. She completed her schooling at St. Thomas School and graduated with history honours from St. Stephens College, Delhi University. After completing her postgraduate degree in history, she completed her L.L.B. course and graduated in 1984. She got registered as an advocate with the Delhi Bar Council the same year.
2. She was the standing council and legal advisor of the Delhi Municipal Council in the Delhi High Court between 1999 and 2004. She was then appointed to the Additional Standing Council of the Delhi High Court in 2004.
3. Kohli has represented the government of Delhi in various important public interest litigations.
4. She was also the legal advisor to the Public Grievances Commission, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, the National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India, the National Co-operative Development Corporation, and other private organisations, banks, etc.
5. She also served as a member of the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee.
6. Kohli was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court in 2006 and sworn in as a permanent judge in 2007.
7. She has been a member of the General Council of the West Bengal National University of Judicial Sciences, Kolkata, since 2017.
8. Kohli has been serving as the chairperson of the committee of the Delhi Judicial Academy since 2020. The same year, she was appointed chairperson of a high-powered committee constituted by the government of NCT Delhi, executive chairperson of the Delhi state Legal Services Authority, chairperson of the Delhi High Court's middle-income legal aid society, and a member of the governing council of the National Law University.
9. Kohli also actively promotes mediation as an alternative dispute resolution forum in the role of the judiciary in the preservation of the ecology and environment and in family courts in resolving family disputes.
10. Kohli has also presented papers at various national and international symposiums and conferences.

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