24 Facts About Leila Seth

Leila Seth was an Indian judge who served as the first woman judge on the Delhi High Court and became the first woman to become Chief Justice of a state High Court, Himachal Pradesh High Court, on 5 August 1991.

Leila Seth was the first woman to be designated as a senior counsel by the Supreme Court of India.

Leila Seth was a member of the 15th Law Commission of India from 1997 to 2000, and was responsible for the amendments to the Hindu Succession Act that gave equal rights to daughters in joint family property.

Leila Seth was born on 20 October 1930 in Lucknow, the first daughter after two sons in her family.

Leila Seth is said to have been very close to her father, who worked in the Imperial Railway Service and was devastated when he died when she was only 11 years old.

Leila Seth's move to London gave her the opportunity to start studying law.

In 1958, Leila Seth wrote the London Bar exam and topped it at the age of 27, becoming the first woman to do so.

Leila Seth initially worked under a senior lawyer named Sachin Chaudhary.

Leila Seth worked at the Patna High Court for 10 years.

Leila Seth has spoken about the discriminatory attitudes she had to face for being a woman in the male-dominated field of law.

Leila Seth recounted how she would initially not get a lot of work, as people did not think a woman lawyer would be capable of handling it.

Leila Seth handled diverse cases, from Tax matters, to Company Law, Constitutional Law, Civil, Criminal cases and Matrimonial suits and public interest litigations.

Leila Seth was on the panel of lawyers for the West Bengal government in the Supreme Court from June 1974.

In 1978, Leila Seth became a Judge of the Delhi High Court, breaking the glass ceiling by becoming the first woman to do so.

Leila Seth's career continued to rise as she became the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court, again the first woman to be the Chief Justice of a State High Court.

Leila Seth was a member of the 15th Law Commission of India from 1997 to 2000, during which time she spearheaded the campaign to give daughters inheritance rights over ancestral property in the Hindu Succession Act.

Leila Seth served as the Chair of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative for several years.

Leila Seth served on the Humanities jury for the Infosys Prize from 2012 to 2016.

Justice Leila Seth was a part of various enquiry commissions, one of which was responsible for studying the effects of the television serial, Shaktiman on children.

Justice Leila Seth married Prem Seth when she was 20 years old.

Vikram Leila Seth went on to be a poet and author, Shantum Leila Seth is a Buddhist teacher, and Aradhana is an artist, art director and filmmaker.

Leila Seth was vocal about supporting her son Vikram Seth when he came out as gay, and wrote extensively decrying Section 377 and in favour of LGBTQIA rights, including an op-ed in The Times Of India after the Koushal judgment in 2013 reinstated Section 377.

Justice Leila Seth died after suffering a cardio-respiratory attack on the night of 5 May 2017 at her residence in Noida, aged 86.

Leila Seth is survived by her husband, two sons and a daughter.