Hyderabad: Women’s advocates demonstrate before the High Court, calling for a 30% quota for Bar Council elections

Hyderabad: During lunch on Monday, women lawyers working at the Telangana High Court protested in front of gate number six of the court, calling for the adoption of a 30% quota for women in the January 2026 Bar Council elections. The purpose of the demonstration was to alert the Bar Council to what the women’s activists saw as ongoing prejudice and disregard for women in the voting process.

T Rajitha, who spearheaded the demonstration, harshly denounced the Bar Council for what she called its stubborn and prejudiced refusal to provide reservations to female advocates. While Telangana continues to lag despite repeated submissions, she noted that some State Bar Councils have introduced reservation provisions to guarantee appropriate representation of women.

Rajitha said that A. Narasimha Reddy, the head of the Bar Council, has shown a total lack of interest in attending to the long-standing demand of women attorneys. She said that in spite of many requests, he had not sent the Bar Council of India a recommendation or no objection for women’s reservation, which is necessary in order to put the policy into effect for the next elections.

She criticized the Bar Council leadership’s approach, saying that the inactivity blatantly violates the values of equality and fair representation in the legal community and indicates prejudice against women activists. She cautioned that unless justice is served and their legitimate demands are met, women’s activists will keep up their protests and legal battle.

Amrapali, Subhashini, and Lakshmi were among the attorneys who took part in the demonstration, shouting slogans and demanding that prompt action be taken to guarantee female parity in the Bar Council elections. The demonstration ended with a determination to escalate the action in the event that the authorities do not comply with the demand.