Senior lawyer Indu Malhotra was sworn in on Friday as a Supreme Court judge, creating a history. She became the first woman lawyer to be elevated to the top judiciary directly from the bar. Justice Indu Malhotra’s oath of office was administered Chief Justice Dipak Misra at the Supreme Court.

Here are some of the facts about the newly sworn-in Supreme Court judge.

1. Malhotra is the seventh women judge in the top court since Independence as only six women judges have made it to the Supreme Court so far. Other women judges were elevated to the apex court from high courts.

2. Malhotra, who was born in Bangalore, completed her schooling from Carmel Convent School in New Delhi. She did her B.A. (Hons.) in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, after which she obtained her law degree from the Faculty of Law in Delhi University.

3. In the year 1983, Malhotra joined the legal profession and was enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi. In 1988, she qualified as an Advocate-on-Record in the Supreme Court. She was one of the prominent senior advocates, regularly appearing in educational matters pertaining to medical and engineering colleges.

4. Malhotra was one of the members of the Vishaka Committee on sexual harassment at workplaces. She was also on the 10-member committee constituted by the top court to deal with complaints of sexual harassment within the court, according to a PTI report.

5. She was appointed as the standing counsel for Haryana in the apex court from 1991 to 1996.

6. Malhotra has represented various statutory corporations like the Securities Exchange Board of India, the Delhi Development Authority, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, before the Supreme Court.

7. She was designated senior advocate by the top court in 2007 and became the second woman to be designated as such by the apex court after a gap of over 30 years. The first being Justice Leila Seth.

8. Malhotra has authored the third edition of The Law and Practice of Arbitration and Conciliation, 2014.

(With PTI inputs)