Following feisty women lawyers have created history in their field in India and abroad too. They will always be a source of inspiration for Indian women.
Menaka Guruswamy:
She is an advocate at the Supreme Court of India. She has been an instrument in defending a provision in the Right to Education Act mandating that all private schools admit disadvantaged children, and was also among the lawyers arguing for the Naz foundation while challenging Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. She has dedicated her life to the cause of upholding justice as she summarizes in this quote, “To advocate, for those who cannot tell their own stories, to defend those whose freedom is in peril, to prod a nation to ask of itself, for whom am I, and for what was I created?”
Almanjeet Kaur Chauhan:
She is one of the most acclaimed punjabi lawyers and a very well known famous laywer in court. She won Femina, Miss India in 1978 and went back to her career as lawyer after her tenure as the beauty queen.
Vrindra Grover
Identified by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential women in 2013, Vrinda Grover is a lawyer and a human rights activist. She has put great contributions to the women’s rights movement in India. She has taken domestic violence cases and cases involving sexual minorities. She has also represented victims in the Soni Sori rape case. She was famous for the drafting of the Criminal Law Amendment of 2013, the POCSO Act 2012 and the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010.
Meenakshi Arora:
She is a senior counsel at the Supreme Court of India. She works for the rights of women in India. She was a member of the Gender Sensitization and Internal Complaints Committee of the Supreme Court. She was one of the advocates whose persistent efforts led to the framing of the Vishakha Guidelines, which later culminated into the legislation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act (2013).
Indira Jaising:
She was the first woman as an Additional Solicitor General of India in 2009 and 1st women as Senior advocate in Bombay High court. She has dedicated her life to fighting for the cause of human rights and founded the Lawyers Collective, a human rights organisation, along with her husband Anand Grover in 1981. She consistently fought for the framing of the Domestic Violence Act (2005). Her most recent accolades include a major victory in Priya Pillai’s case where the High Court ruled that the state cannot muzzle dissent.
Pinky Anand:
A senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India. She is an expert in the field of Constitutional Law, Family Law and Environmental law, amongst others. She was appointed to be an Additional Solicitor General of India and was the second woman to have been appointed to this post.
Karuna Nundy:
An advocate in the Supreme Court of India. She works in human rights litigation and has fought for the gender justice movement in India. She played major role in seeking justice for the victims of the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy, and was also involved in the drafting of the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2013. She was also instrumental in the Supreme Court judgement scrapping Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, which posed as a restriction on freedom of speech. Personally invested in the cause of upholding justice, she has also participated in a Reddit AMA to engage with the common masses on discussions about the Indian legal system.
Flavia Agnes:
An author, legal scholar, women’s rights activist and lawyer. She is the co-ffounder of ‘Majlis’, an organization that provides legal representation for women. Her work on feminist jurisprudence are of at most importance. She is renowned for her services to destitute women on legal matters. She was instrumental in the formation of the Forum Against Oppression of Women (FAOW), a campaign group that dealt with issues involving wife beating, dowry and sexual harassment in 1979.
Meenakshi Lekhi:
An Indian Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha. She is a lawyer at the Supreme Court of India. She has been a part of the drafting committees for bills like ‘Women’s Reservation Bill’ and ‘Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (prevention, prohibition and redressal) Bill’. She has worked on domestic violence and family law disputes. She fought for the case for the permanent commissioning of women in the Indian Armed Forces at the Supreme Court.
Monisha Kaltenborn:
She is from Dehradun and later she settled in Australia with her family. She works as team principal in Sauber Formula one team, being the 1st women to work on this capacity.
Premila Nesargi:
She is lawyer and a women rights activist. She was the 1st women to be honored as chair person of the Bar Association of Karnataka .
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Sheela Murthy:
She is an immigration lawyer from US and ownes a law firm called as Murthy law firm (top immigration law firm in US). She works for several organisations working towards women and children development.