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Most societies developed secular commercial laws as trading routes opened up and colonisation began. in that day age - the vakilβs who played the role of lawyers were from mercantile classes. Religious law was relegated to private sphere where priestly classes retained control.
Since independence and reservations - opportunities have opened up for Dalits and Adivasis some. What counts as law has changed. No more going to a panchayat over a dispute about land or a custody dispute- you go to civil court of family court and you interpret statues passed by parliament-a. No religious criminal law at all. The profession has also become more regulated and thereβs rules about the kind of education and degree you need to have and tests you need to pass to be a lawyer now. No more being a lawyer only because youβre born in the right family- you do have to compete with others even if on unfair terms.
This is very short legal history. Many overlaps and nuances cannot be explained in a comment. Go read some legal history.
Legacy judges like the Chandrachuds, Justice Khanwilkar, and Justice MudholkarβMarathi speaking judges dominated the Bombay High Court for a long time, closely followed by Gujaratis. Similarly, Bengali speaking judges dominated the Northern Circuit. Over time, with Kolkata's colonial legacy, a distinct class of lawyers emerged, a phenomenon that also occurred in hubs like Bombay.
Today, I see a significant number of Marwaris in law firms, which I believe is a result of the rising cost of legal education, making it accessible only to the privilege
your entire comment is based on pure assumptions and anecdotes. You are cherry picking examples of branhmin judges to come to a preferred conclusion. Even in Kolkata, brahmin lawyers and judges were exceedingly rare considering 30-35% of bengali population would be brahmin. They have always preferred sciences, academia, IT as their area of focus.
https://www.deccanherald.com/amp/story/opinion/bjp-brings-caste-politics-to-bengal-881894.html
Diversity became a price to pay for progress , after the concept of nation states were invented
But Muslim representation is low relative to their numbers. Even there it is mostly the higher caste Muslims and not the pasmandas.