Indu Malhotra
She broke a 68-year barrier, becoming the first woman elevated directly from legal practice to India's highest court, reshaping its composition.
Born 1956 (age 70)·Indian judge·Birthday: March 14·Baby Boomers
Biography
Indu Malhotra's legal career is a story of quiet, persistent shattering of glass ceilings. Born in 1956, she built a formidable reputation as a lawyer specializing in arbitration and constitutional law, arguing complex cases before the Supreme Court of India. For decades, the apex court bench was a male domain, with judges traditionally appointed from the ranks of high court justices. Malhotra's profound expertise and stature at the Bar upended that tradition. In 2018, she was appointed directly as a Supreme Court judge, a historic first for any woman in India. Her tenure, though brief, was marked by thoughtful opinions and a steadfast commitment to the law. Upon retirement, she returned to her roots, becoming a sought-after arbitrator, mediating high-stakes domestic and international disputes with the same sharp intellect that defined her judicial path.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Indu was born in 1956, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Indu Was Born
The biggest hits of 1956
#1 Movie
The Ten Commandments
Best Picture
Around the World in 80 Days
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Indu's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1956Born
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1961Started school
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1969Became a teenager
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1972Could drive
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1974Could vote
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1977Turned 21
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1986Turned 30
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 40
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 50
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 60
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 70
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Became the first woman lawyer to be directly appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India in 2018.
- Was only the second woman ever to be designated as a Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court of India, achieving this in 2007.
- Authored a landmark judgment decriminalizing adultery in India, striking it down as unconstitutional.
- Served as a member of the committee that drafted the Vishaka Guidelines against sexual harassment at the workplace.
Did You Know?
She comes from a family of legal luminaries; her brother, Deepak Malhotra, is also a senior Supreme Court advocate.
She was a lecturer in political science at Miranda House, University of Delhi, before turning to law.
Her father, Om Prakash Malhotra, was a prominent advocate and author of a definitive textbook on the Law of Industrial Disputes.
“The autonomy of the individual is the ability to make decisions on matters intimate to one’s life.”
