On Monday, the Supreme Court took the unprecedented step of granting permanent commission to 14 women short service commission (SSC) officers, 12 of whom had already been released from service without grant of PC, and heaped praise on the armed forces for displaying a complete change in mindset and supporting equal status for female officers.
After resisting the induction of women SSC officers post their release from service and citing provisions of the Army Act, the authorities bowed to the persistence of a bench of Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice A S Bopanna, who deluged additional solicitor general Sanjay Jain and senior advocate R Balasubramanian with the importance of fair play and women empowerment and persuaded them to impress upon the authorities the importance of providing equal opportunities to women in armed forces.
Stung by the bench’s remark during the last hearing — “discharging short service commission women army officers without a comprehensive evaluation about their ability to meet threshold level would be a disservice to the nation and the armed forces”, the ASG and Balasubramanian persuaded the Army authorities to take a fresh evaluation of the credentials and fitness of the 12 women SSC officers and reported back to the court that these officers would be granted permanent commission.
However, Jain cited Section 2(2) of the Army Act to request the court to order their reinstatement in the Army and grant of permanent commission. But, senior advocates V Mohana and Huzefa Ahmadi told the court that since the Army authorities had discharged the 12 women SSC officers in complete disregard of the apex court’s judgment, their services should be regularised without a break, which was caused by the unfair release from service.
The bench struck a balance and ordered their reinstatement while clarifying that since it was being done on court orders and because of pending proceedings, the provision of the Army Act would not come into play. The 12 women SSC officers who would get permanent commission are — Gopika Bhati, Vandana Grover, Nitisha, Madhvi Singh, Kavita Gusain, Vandana Sharma, Sonali Singh, Anuradha Dhadwal, Ipsa Ratha, Umeed Tahapa, Parkhee Preetal Anil and Selokar Amita Namdeo.
The SC also ordered the Army authorities to grant permanent
commission to two other women SSC officers — Preeti Shinthe and Poonam
Sharda, who were scheduled to be discharged in March next year. Out of a
total of 615 women SSC officers in the zone of consideration for grant
of PC, 86 did not opt for it and 529 had already been granted PC.
Out of the remaining 42, half were found unfit and released from
service. Of the balance 21, five opted out, three faced
disciplinary/vigilance inquiry, one referred to and another's medical
documents were under scrutiny. Remaining 14 have qualified for grant of
PC, Jain informed the SC.
Justice Chandrachud and Justice Bopanna were in praise of the armed forces for showing remarkable and praiseworthy change of attitude and approach towards women officers. The bench recalled a recent statement of the Indian Navy chief about posting women officers in warships.
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