# Women get only 30% of arbitrator appointments, study finds 2026-10-14T00:06:51+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Men account for 70% of arbitrator appointments by the Supreme Court and the Delhi and Bombay high courts, a NALSAR University study has found. Of 2,283 appointments recorded in 2025, 1,598 went to men and 685 to women, according to the Milon K. Banerji Centre for Arbitration Law's report. Former Supreme Court judge Justice Indira Banerjee, speaking at the report's launch, said the disparity reflects the historically limited representation of women in the higher judiciary. She estimated only five or six retired women Supreme Court judges are available for arbitration appointments at any given time. The study covered 3,688 cases but did not examine whether the figures mirror the gender composition of the eligible arbitrator pool. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Barandbench and Times of India both report the same NALSAR study finding that men account for 70% of court-appointed arbitrators. Barandbench frames the story around Justice Indira Banerjee's explanation that the imbalance stems from the historical under-representation of women in the higher judiciary, quoting her estimate that only five or six retired women Supreme Court judges are available. Times of India leads with the headline figure of 70% and provides granular court-wise breakdowns, attributing the disparity to the narrow pool of eligible women judges, citing Bar Council data on women in the legal profession. Neither outlet overstates or omits the core findings, both attribute the gap to supply-side constraints. The coverage is uniform straight reporting of the study's statistics and the judges' remarks at the launch. The study does not assess whether the appointment figures reflect the gender composition of the eligible arbitrator pool. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - barandbench.com (neutral report) Led with Justice Banerjee's explanation of judicial pipeline - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Led with headline number and court-wise breakdowns This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Bombay High Court, Delhi High Court, Justice Indira Banerjee, Milon K. Banerji Centre for Arbitration Law, NALSAR University of Law, Supreme Court of India Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/women-get-only-30-of-arbitrator-appointments-study-finds/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/women-get-only-30-of-arbitrator-appointments-study-finds/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/