New Delhi, March 27 -- Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant has written to the chief justices of all 25 high courts, calling for urgent action to fill mounting judicial vacancies and urging them to prioritise the elevation of women judges as part of a broader push for diversity on constitutional benches. In a letter sent last week, the CJI highlighted the scale of vacancies across the higher judiciary and stressed the need for high court collegiums to expedite recommendations, not just for existing posts but also for those likely to arise in the near future. According to data placed before Parliament by Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, 309 positions (27.5%) remain vacant in high courts against a sanctioned strength of 1,122 judges as of February 10, underscoring the urgency flagged by the Chief Justice. The communication underlined that the appointments process, requiring inputs from the state government, Intelligence Bureau, Supreme Court collegium and the Union government, is inherently time-consuming, making early initiation by high courts critical. Against this backdrop, CJI Kant urged chief justices to ensure that recommendations are not delayed, warning that any lag at the high court level has a cascading effect on the entire appointment pipeline. Significantly, the letter placed a clear emphasis on improving gender representation in the higher judiciary. It called on high court collegiums to give special attention to identifying and recommending suitable women candidates for elevation -- an area where representation continues to lag. Official figures show that only 116 of the 813 working high court judges are women, accounting for just 14.27%. In the Supreme Court, there is currently only one woman judge. The CJI's intervention comes amid growing concern over the gender imbalance on constitutional benches, even as entry-level representation in the judiciary has shown marked improvement. In a notable suggestion, the CJI asked high courts to broaden their search for talent where local candidates are not readily available. If suitable women candidates cannot be identified within a high court's territorial jurisdiction, collegiums should consider women advocates from that state who are currently practising in the Supreme Court. Justice Kant pointed out that several competent women lawyers from different states are actively practising in Delhi and could be considered for elevation in their respective home high courts. The move signals a shift towards a more flexible, pan-India approach to judicial appointments, particularly aimed at addressing the persistent under-representation of women. The letter reflects themes repeatedly articulated by the CJI in recent public engagements. Speaking on March 8 at a national conference on women in law, he had said: "The moment for measured action is not in the future -- it is now. Consideration of suitable, meritorious women members of the Bar should not be an exception but a norm." He had also advised high court collegiums to "widen the zone of consideration" to include women advocates practising in the Supreme Court when suitable candidates are not available within the prescribed age bracket locally. While highlighting the need for more women judges, the CJI has also pointed to deeper structural challenges within the legal profession. At an event organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association last week, he pitched for 50% representation of women in government empanelment of advocates and legal aid panels, along with the creation of a financial support corpus for women lawyers during early years of practice and maternity breaks. He noted that although women now constitute over half of law students and a significant proportion of new entrants to the Bar, there is a steep drop-off as careers progress, driven by factors such as lack of mentorship, irregular working hours and limited institutional support. CJI Kant has consistently argued that improving representation on the bench requires strengthening the pipeline at its source. "Elevation is not a simple or instantaneous process. It requires nurturing the pipeline at its very source. If the pipeline is narrow at its source, the bench cannot later be broad," he has said. Encouragingly, women now constitute around 36.3% of the working strength of judicial officers at the district level, suggesting that the base of the pyramid is gradually expanding. Recent developments indicate incremental progress. The Supreme Court collegium has recommended transfer and future appointment of Justice Lisa Gill of the Punjab and Haryana High Court as the chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court....