In a ruling that could have far-reaching implications in the armed forces,the Delhi High Court today said that women officers serving in the Army and Air Force are also entitled to Permanent Commission (PC) like their male counterparts. The ruling opens the gates for permanent commission to around 1,200 women officers in the two forces who joined service before 2006,the year when a policy decision was taken by the government not to absorb women as permanent commission officers in the armed forces. A division bench of Justices S K Kaul and M C Garg,directing the Centre and armed forces to grant PC to more than 20 women officers who had approached the court,ruled that women officers who retired in the past few years be reinstated as permanent commission officers. Those who joined services after a notification in 2006 would not be covered by its decision. If the male officers can be granted PC while performing those tasks,there is no reason why equally capable women officers cannot be granted PC. It is not a charity being sought by the women officers but enforcement of their own constitutional rights, the bench said. Saying it was not possible to take back retired woman officers and accommodate them due to lack of vacancies at senior positions,the Army and IAF have decided to appeal in the Supreme Court against the decision. The two forces say there would be massive cadre management problems since most senior positions in the streams have already been filled. There are no vacancies in the higher positions of the cadres to which the litigating officers belong. It would be difficult to assign them positions as we only have vacancies at lower ranks, an armed forces officer said. Accepting the argument of the petitioners that denial of PC to them despite their willingness and completion of requirements was violative of their fundamental rights,the High Court bench said the forces should have stuck to the clauses laid down by them,according to which vacancy and suitability were the only two grounds for granting PC to the officers after their initial years of Short Service Commission. If these officers have performed equally well in their task which are non-combat in nature and on that basis respondents have extended their period of SSC more than once,it would be gross violation to Articles 14,16 & 21 of the Constitution of India to accept a situation where such women officers are deprived of a PC while male officers are granted this PC. If this is not discrimination what would be discrimination based on gender and denial of equal opportunity of employment to these women? the bench remarked. While refusing to interfere with the policy decision of the forces whereby all PCs were restricted with effect from July 2006,the bench held that the scope of judicial review was,however,available to them if there was breach of fundamental rights and that fair play would be the expectation from the authorities. We end this judgment with the hope that with the expanding horizon of women participation in different walks of life,the respondents would be encouraged to have larger participation of women in more areas of operation both for SSC and PC, said the bench.
