Terming it “punitive, arbitrary and illegal,” the Supreme Court on Friday set aside the termination of services of two women judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh in 2023 and directed their reinstatement, emphasising the importance of being sensitive to the gender-specific difficulties faced by women, while assessing their performance.

Directing the reinstatement of services of two women judicial officers, Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh in a judgment pronounced today said, “The termination of these two judicial officers is punitive, arbitrary and therefore illegal.”

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The services of the two women judicial officers – Civil Judge, Class-II (JR Division) – were terminated following adverse reports by the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The top court had taken a suo motu cognizance of the termination of services of the women judicial officers.

The court noted that one of the judges, during the period of assessment, had got married, contracted COVID-19, had a miscarriage, and her brother was diagnosed with cancer.

Speaking for the bench, Justice Nagarathna said, “ The High Court report does not show consistent poor performance of judges and it speaks otherwise. There are inherent contradictions in the ACRs…We have held that opportunity had to be given before termination. Thus, termination is punitive, arbitrary and illegal.”

“Even on perusal of the report given by the High Court in a sealed cover, it does not persuade us to take a different view. We hold that the termination was in the form of punishment. The termination was stigmatic in nature. These could not have been the basis of the impugned termination. Thus, orders of full court, administrative report and the government order are set aside,” the bench added.

Justice Nagarathna also said that a conducive environment must be created for women judges in India to flourish.

“It is important to understand their entry, then their retention in numbers and advancement to senior echelons of the judiciary. Greater representation of women in judiciary will increase the quality of justice being rendered and it also promotes gender equality in broader ways. Then freedom from discrimination for women during pregnancy is a precious right. When there is birth, there is sense of fulfilment, whereas miscarriage has serious effect son mental health of women…even leads to suicide and recurring miscarriages have severe effects on health…It is not enough to find comfort in growing number of women judicial officers unless we secure a comfortable atmosphere for them to work in,” the judgment said.

Having set-aside, the termination of the services of the two women judicial officers and having directed their reinstatement, the top court said, “They are eligible to rejoin and the date of probation shall be when their juniors were confirmed. Monetary benefits of the said period shall be calculated notionally for the purpose of pensionary benefits etc and they need to be taken back to service within 15 days in terms of seniority.”