NEW DELHI, MARCH 12
In a landmark judgement favouring women serving in the defence services, the Delhi High Court today directed the government to allow grant of permanent commission to them, saying they “deserve better from the government” which had shown reluctance in treating them on par with their male counterpart.
Delivering a verdict on a batch of petitions filed by more than sixty serving and retired lady officers, a bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said they would be treated equally with male officers but turned down their plea of being allowed in combative operation.
“There were also male officers performing the same task. If the male officers can be granted permanent commission 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 court said.
It rejected the plea of the government that PC can be allowed only for future recruitment and the benefit cannot be given retrospectively for the serving and retired lady officers who had approached the court.
“These women officers have served the Armed Forces of the country well in the areas of operation they were recruited for and have worked in this capacity for 14 to 15 years. They deserve better from the respondents (government),” the court said.
“There is no reason why these persons who have knocked the door of the court should be deprived of the benefit and the benefit extended only in future for grant of PC to women,” the court said.
Justice Kaul, who has authored important judgements on M F Husain and ban on-screen smoking, began today’s verdict by quoting American political adviser Will Henry who had said that ‘Nature gave women too much power, the law gives them too little’ and hoped after this order the government would give larger participation to lady officer in armed forces.
The lady officers were deprived of certain benefits and privileges, which would have ensured to them in case of grant of PC like pension, ex-serviceman status, medical facilities.
The court made it clear that all the lady officers, who had approached it but retired during the pendency of the case, would be given all the consequential benefits to them.
However, no lady officer from the Navy had approached the court.
A group of serving women officers from Army and Air Force has moved a petition demanding equal service rights at par with their male counterparts.
Currently, women are inducted in the Army as officers under Short Service Commission for a maximum period of 14 years whereas their male counterparts are eligible to receive permanent commission after five years.
Following the High Court’s earlier direction to treat women officers at par with their male counterparts in armed forces, the government had in September last year taken a policy decision to grant permanent commission to those women officers who would be recruited in future for the post of Judge Advocate General and education departments.
It was decided that the benefits would not be extended to serving women officers.
The direction came on petitions filed by women officers, through Counsel Rekha Palli, seeking a direction to the Centre to stop alleged discrimination against them in the matter of grant of permanent commission.