Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of the Supreme Court publicly called the Supreme Court Collegium 'male-dominated' and urged that it invite woman judges to participate in its deliberations. The Collegium, a five-judge body responsible for appointing and transferring judges to higher courts, has historically had little to no female representation. Justice Bhuyan's remarks highlight a structural gap in judicial appointments that affects gender diversity at the highest levels of India's judiciary.

The Supreme Court Collegium is a body comprising the Chief Justice of India and the four most senior judges of the Supreme Court. It holds the exclusive power to recommend appointments, elevations, and transfers of judges to High Courts and the Supreme Court — a power settled through the Second and Third Judges Cases (1993 and 1998). The Collegium system is not codified in statute; it evolved through constitutional interpretation of Articles 124 and 217.

Justice Bhuyan's observation targets a structural gender deficit: since the Collegium's composition is determined purely by seniority, and women have historically been underrepresented in the judiciary at all levels, very few women have ever reached the senior-most positions that would place them in the Collegium. As of 2025, no woman has ever served as a permanent member of the Supreme Court Collegium.

His suggestion — that the Collegium should invite a woman judge to participate even without formal membership — raises a broader principle: gender-inclusive deliberation as a constitutional value, not merely a statistical aspiration. This connects to the Supreme Court's own jurisprudence on gender stereotyping (e.g., the 2023 handbook against gender stereotypes in judicial language) and to the idea that institutional design shapes substantive equality. For CLAT PG aspirants, the key legal angle is whether the Collegium's informal, convention-based process can be reformed from within by judicial initiative, without legislative intervention.