The Supreme Court collegium has recommended the name of senior advocate Indu Malhotra as the first woman lawyer to be directly appointed as a judge of the apex court, sources said today.<br/><br/>Along with her, Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K M Joseph, who was part of the bench which in 2016 had quashed<br/>the imposition of President's Rule in the state, has also been cleared for elevation to the apex court.<br/><br/>She will be the seventh woman judge since independence to make it to the Supreme Court. At present, Justice R Banumathi is the lone woman judge in the apex court.<br/><br/>The first woman to be appointed as a judge of the apex court was Justice M Fathima Beevi in 1989.<br/> <br/>Thereafter, Justice Sujata V Manohar, Justice Ruma Pal, Justice Gyan Sudha Misra and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai made it to the top court as judges.<br/>