The Missing Diversity In India’s Justice System

These are the findings from the fourth edition of the India Justice Report (IJR) 2025. The report derives the rankings based on the states’ performance on four pillars--police, judiciary, prisons and legal aid. IJR, in partnership with DAKSH, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Common Cause, Centre for Social Justice, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and TISS-Prayas, uses data from the Bureau of Police Research and Development, Prison Statistics of India, Comptroller and Auditor General reports, parliament questions, National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), budget documents etc.

The five south Indian states ranked the best in justice delivery, we had reported based on the report. Even in terms of diversity, these five states--Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Kerala, in that order--ranked at the top.

The diversity ranking gauged 17 indicators including the share of women and the representation of caste diversity across the four pillars of the justice system--police, judiciary, prisons and legal aid.

Overall, the representation of women in police increased from 11.7% to 12.3% between 2022 and 2023--the year for which latest data are available. Only 8% of police officers are women, while 13% of constabulary are women. Further in the Indian Police Service, only 12% were women.

IndiaSpend had reported in April 2023 that multiple advisories from the Union home ministry have recommended that there be at least three women sub-inspectors and 10 women constables in each police station.

States have been advised to ensure that 33% of police forces are women and the Union government has made it mandatory in the Union territories. States have their own quotas and five states/UTs--Goa, Kerala, Ladakh, Manipur, and Mizoram--had no reservations for women at all, said the report.

There are two structural factors that explain the slow rate of increase in women’s share in the police forces, explained Devyani Srivastava, Senior Manager-Research, National Law School of India University and co-author of the chapter on police. First, recruitment cycles at the constable and SI ranks (where reservation for women applies in direct recruitment) typically take up to two years to complete, from the stage of notification of vacancies--which means women’s intake happens in two years or even longer if legal challenges cause delays. Second, the reservation for women in direct recruitment is still not enforced consistently across different ranks.

Based on the IJR 2025 estimate, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar are expected to take 3.3 years to meet 33% quota for women in police, but Jharkhand and Karnataka would take 175 and 115.7 years, respectively. Smaller states are worse off with Manipur estimated to take 16.8 years, the least time, while Tripura would take 222 years.

Srivastava further explained that Karnataka, for instance, does not recruit women in the district armed reserve; as a result, its share of women stands at 8.9% which is lower than the national average. “Women’s intake [through reservation] takes place only in designated ranks at the state level (constable, sub-inspector and Deputy superintendent of police) where direct recruitment takes place,” she said. “Promotions are governed by state service rules and take 10-15 years on an average from one rank to another.”

In February 2020, IndiaSpend had reported how with fewer women in Kerala’s police force, the state’s capacity to deliver justice was being affected. The DGP and state police chief of Kerala at the time, Loknath Behera, had told IndiaSpend, “We would like to have at least 10,000 women officials in the force. The Kerala government has taken a policy decision for the special recruitment of women police officials. But at the same time, we are also making the recruitment gender-neutral (like in civil services).”

Gender diversity increased by 1% at the High Courts and 3% at the lower courts in the three years to 2025, said the report. As of March 2025, there are two women judges working in the Supreme Court and 110 women Judges in High Courts. There are 7,852 women Judgesworking in district and subordinate Courts. Only Telangana and Sikkim had atleast one-third women judges on its HC benches.

“The diminishing presence of female judges as we go up the ladder signifies a leaky pipeline and the glass ceiling, both attributable to systemic barriers and gender bias that women face in a sector that has historically been male dominant,” said Valay Singh, Lead, IJR. “While most states have reservations for women in the district judiciary, no such provision exists in the high courts or the Supreme Court.”

In the subordinate courts, at least one in three judges were women in 14 of the 18 large states. Gujarat was the only state with more women judges in the high court (25%) compared to the lower courts (21%).

Leah Verghese, research manager at DAKSH, a think-tank focused on justice system reforms and access to justice, said that the collegium under the previous Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, none of the 17 names recommended for the Supreme Court were women.

“Gender diversity in trial courts is better, probably because of reservation,” she said. “The absence of institutional support to help lawyers balance their professional and personal responsibilities makes it harder for women to sustain long-term careers in litigation, which is the traditional pipeline to becoming a judge. The collegium system is based on recommendations and professional visibility within elite legal circles, naturally favouring male candidates.”

According to March 2025 government data, since 2014, six women judges have been appointed in the Supreme Court and 162 in the High Courts. There are two women judges working in the Supreme Court and 110 women judges working in High Courts, while there are 7,852 women judges working in district and subordinate courts. Based on a 2021 projection of women’s population in India, there would be 21 women judges per million women.

Legal aid represents better gender diversity with the proportion of women panel lawyers increasing from 18% to 28% between 2018 and 2024. In seven states, women occupied 60% of DLSA secretary posts while nationally it was 31%, the report found.

Fifteen states/UTs have less than 40% women paralegals, while the rest, with between 40% to 85%, increase the average to 42%, said the report. In February 2020, IndiaSpend had reported on the need for more women paralegals.

Karnataka only state to fill caste quota in officers and constabulary

As in the previous year, Karnataka was the only state to fill its caste quota requirement across all caste categories–scheduled caste (SC), scheduled tribe (ST) and other backward classes (OBC)--in among police officer and constabulary.

At the officer level, only four large states met their SC quota, five met the ST quota, while nine met their OBC quota. Gujarat and Karnataka had more SC officers than their reserved posts, with 131% and 119% of their quotas being filled, respectively. Uttar Pradesh had the lowest percentage, with only 39% of reserved posts actually filled.

Madhya Pradesh has reduced its ST officer shortfall from 44% in 2017 to 4% in 2023, similar to Kerala’s progress in decreasing vacancies from 44% to 14% during the same period, said the report.

At least eight states had better than the requisite ratio of STs in their constabulary, the report found.

No Indian state is fully compliant with 14-year-old Supreme Court directives for police reforms, IndiaSpend had reported in September 2020.

Factors such as irregular implementation of reservation policy in direct recruitment, long-running legal battles on implementing reservation in promotions at different ranks and constantly evolving administrative procedures have all impacted the pace and nature of caste representation in the police, said Srivastava.

Among the OBC officers, over a year until January 2023, vacancies in Maharashtra grew from 2% to 35% and 15% to 35% in Madhya Pradesh. The largest vacancies among officers were observed in Manipur (94%), Rajasthan (74%), Himachal Pradesh (70%), Goa (67%), and West Bengal (63%), which have consistently recorded vacancies exceeding 60% between January 2017 and 2023, said the report.

Srivastava suggested timely recruitment cycles and strict compliance with reservation targets, regular monitoring of shortfalls in reserved seats and affirmative action to reduce backlog, and having effective police establishment boards, per Prakash Singh judgement, to ensure transparency and objectivity in promotions across ranks.

In subordinate courts, the actual to reserved ratio for SC and ST judges was 71% and 40% respectively. Here too, Karnataka exceeded its targets with SC judges in 110% of the reserved positions, ST judges in 116% positions and OBC judges in 168% of the reserved positions.

At the HCs and Supreme Court level, appointments are not made based on caste. But according to the March 2025 government response in Parliament, only 18% of the 715 judges appointed since 2018 are from the SC, ST and OBC communities, while 37 (5%) others were from minority groups.

Persons with disability remain invisible in the justice system

According to the IJR 2025 report, in the police, judiciary, and prison administration, the representation of persons with disabilities is negligible, despite 4% mandatory reservation under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPwD) Act. While some states have policies for recruitment for disabled people, there is a lack of awareness in the system.

Nagaland has identified certain posts, such as Deputy Superintendent of Police, Inspector, and Sub-inspector as suitable for acid-attack victims and leprosy-cured persons, said the report.

Further there is a lack of data on prisoners who have disabilities or acquired disabilities while in prison, which creates issues.

Kerala High Court only was the high court that maintained information on the number of accessible ramps, lifts, and disabled-friendly toilets on its premises, said the report.

Similarly some state legal aid authorities maintain limited data on disabled beneficiaries but consolidated data that can offer useful analysis and understanding of the situation are lacking.

IndiaSpend has written to the home ministry, the department of justice and NALSA for their comments on diversity in the justice system. We will update the story when we receive a response.

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