Question

The High Court which has the distinction of having the first woman Chief Justice is ________________.
A.Allahabad High Court
B.Delhi High Court
C.Himachal Pradesh High Court
D.Guwahati High Court

Answer 1

Hint:
The seat of the court is located in Shimla,which is the administrative capital of this state. The court also has a sanctioned judge strength of 9 that includes the chief justice as well.

Complete solution:
Justice Leila Seth had become the very first Indian woman Chief Justice of a State High Court. On the date of August 5, 1991, she became the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court. Not only this, she was also the first woman Judge in Delhi High Court.

She has also received the remarkable distinction of becoming the first woman to top the London Bar exam as well as becoming the first female judge of the Delhi High Court.
Justice Leila Seth had begun her career in 1959 as an advocate in the Calcutta High Court and in the Supreme Court. Justice Leila Seth was on the panel of lawyers for the Government of Bihar along with West Bengal. She was made a permanent judge of the Delhi High Court in the year 1980. In 1991, she was made the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh high court.

She had served as member of the 15th Law Commission of India (1997 to 2000) also. In addition,she was also member of the Justice JS Verma committee that was mandated to take a relook at the criminal laws after the December 16 gang rape incident. The committee’s work had resulted in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, which had widened the definition of rape and made the punishment even more stringent.

Hence, the correct answer is option C.

Note:
Justice Leila Seth is the mother of the noted author Vikram Seth. She has also written a number of books, namely, an autobiography, titled ‘On Balance’, ‘We, the Children of India’ in the year 2010, ‘Talking of Justice: People’s Rights in Modern India’ in the year 2014.