Leila Seth

Leila Seth was a judge with Indian origins. She was a pioneer figure in the Indian Judicial System. Leila was the first woman judge in the Delhi High Court and the first woman to become the Chief Justice of a state High Court. Leila was born in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. Leila and her family struggled financially after her father died when she was only 11 years old. She went to Lorento Convent, Darjeeling in West Bengal, and was married off early at the age of 20. After her marriage to Prem Seth, she moved to London. London brought new opportunities for Leila as she started studying law. She appeared for the London Bar Exam and became the first ever woman to secure the first rank in it.

She went back to India to practice law in Patna in Bihar. She served the Patna High Court for ten long years before moving to Delhi High Court. While serving the Delhi High Court she was appointed as the Senior Advocate in 1977. In 1978, Leila broke the shackles of the male-dominated Justice System in India and became the first-ever woman to serve the Delhi High Court as a Judge. She later served the Himachal Pradesh High Court as the Chief Justice in 1991, being the first woman to do so. Leila was a part of the three member bench of Justice Verma Committee, formed to alter the rape laws of the country in lieu of the Delhi Gang Rape case in 2012.

She also served as a member of the 15th Law Commission of India for three years (1997 – 2000). She was a member of the Humanities jury for the Infosys prize for four years. She also had a role to play in the amendments made to the Hindu Succession Act (1956). She has authored On Balance, an Autobiography (2003), We, The Children of India (2010), and Talking of Justice: People's Rights in Modern India (2014). Leila Seth died in Noida in 2017 due to heart-related ailments.