India, Dec. 21 -- It seemed appropriate at the end of the year to hear the unmistakable sound of a glass ceiling crashing down. The blow was struck by a Supreme Court bench headed by chief justice Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Baghchi who were hearing pleas filed by women lawyers Yogamaya MG and Shehla Chaudhary. The women pointed out the painful, and frankly embarrassing, fact that in the six decades since it was set up in 1961, the 20-member executive committee of the Bar Council of India had never elected a woman. Across India, only six of 441 elected representatives in 18 state bar councils are women. And 11 of these bar councils have zero women executive members. This exclusion is "structural, systemic and constitutionally indefensible," senior advocate Shobha Gupta, arguing for Yogamaya, said. The judges agreed and have directed one-third of seats, including at least one office-bearer post, to be earmarked for women in the upcoming bar council elections. Even though the order does not, at the time of writing, apply to elections already underway in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, Gupta called the order "historical and monumental". It will, she said, "Break the glass ceiling in the legal profession." That ceiling is one that Yogamaya knows well. In 2023, following the Supreme Court bar association (SCBA) election she had contested, she very quickly understood the obstacles. She had the merit to win, but lacked political backing and substantial financial resources. After the results were declared, she submitted representation to the SCBA to co-opt the two women who had secured the most votes. But the male-dominated body voted against the move to earmark seats for women. The following year, Yogamaya contested the elections again. And this time, won. "Representation in such bodies is not symbolic," she said. "It truly matters. It shapes decisions, policies and directly affects the professional lives of advocates." But, without structural support, women's voices tend to get sidelined. Dedicated seats for women in these powerful bodies is one way to ensure representation. The bar council (not to be confused with the bar association) is the regulatory body for 20 lakh advocates and licenses lawyers, establishes professional standards, oversees legal education, and handles disciplinary proceedings. There's been a fair amount of media attention on the lack of representation in the higher judiciary. Just 14% of judges in the high courts are women. In the Supreme Court, only one judge out of 34 is a woman. And yet it's not that there are no capable women in the lower judiciary where judges are selected on merit and 35% are women. It's the same story in electoral politics where 33% of seats were set aside for women in panchayats in 1992. Since then, representation in some states is up to 50% but has not created a pipeline to the assemblies or Parliament. In September 2023, another bill to set aside seats for women was signed into law. But nobody can guess on when this law will actually take effect. Women can no longer wait indefinitely. They know the costs, are familiar with the systemic bias, the pay disparity and lack of mentorship, the burden of care work. And, yet, they are surging ahead. They have broken the gender gap in education. They are leaping ahead in sport. They are voting in larger numbers than men. They are determined to stand up and be counted. In a welcome change, the Supreme Court broke an old narrative of male monopoly in the bar councils. One can only hope it's the first of many in the year to come....