Known for her unflinching reserve where it comes to an impartial trial, retired Supreme Court judge Indu Malhotra has been chosen to probe the alleged security lapse which led to a 15-minute holdup for the Prime Minister’s cavalcade in Punjab.
Among the many notable cases that she adjudged over, the Sabarimala verdict remains at the forefront. While the four male judges ruled in favour of allowing women into the holy precincts, she reserved her opinion against it.
A key figure in many landmark judgements, Justice Malhotra holds the unique privilege of becoming a judge at the Apex Court, directly from the ranks of a lawyer. Inducted in 2018, she stayed on for three years before her retirement in 2021. She is also the seventh woman since Independence to have donned the mantle at the highest court.
In this regard, it would not be out of place to mention that for 39 years, there was no woman judge in the Supreme Court. In 1989, Fatima Bibi assumed the respected chair. Following this, Justice Sujata Manohar, Justice Ruma Pal, Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra and Justice Ranjana Desai were appointed as judges in the Supreme Court.
From a distinguished family of lawyers, her father OP Malhotra was a senior advocate while her elder brother and sister are also in the same profession. Justice Malhotra has a postgraduate degree in Political Science from Delhi University and started her bar-at-law in 1983.
