"The Army May Be Supreme In Its Authority But This Constitutional Court Is Also Supreme In Its Jurisdiction": Supreme Court Warns Army In 'Permanent Commission to Women' Matter

After the Supreme Court made clear its intent to record a finding of contempt against it, the Indian Army on Friday communicated the decision to grant PC within 3 weeks to all women officers (including those who have not approached the court) who meet the criteria stipulated in the March judgment in Lt. Col. Nitisha's case.The bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna recorded that as regards the implementation of the directions contained in paragraph 120 of the aforesaid judgment, the present position as relayed by ASG Sanjay Jain and Senior Advocate R. Balasubramanian, for the Ministry of Defence and the Indian Army, is as follows-(1) Out of the total of 72 WSSCOs (women short service commission officers) who were not considered for PC, 1 has opted for release(2) Out of the 35 in contempt proceedings before the court, 21, on further review, have been granted PC, while 1 case is being considered on separate grounds(3) As a result, 14 have been left out in the above process(4) Of these 14, 3 were found unfit in terms of the criteria of para 120(5) The remaining 11 would be granted PC in 10 days"The ASG states that those officers whose cases are not before the court in these contempt proceedings and who meet the criteria in para 120 would be granted PC in 3 weeks", recorded the bench."By way of abundant caution, it is clarified that those women officers who have disciplinary and vigilance clearance in terms of para 120(ii) would be eligible for the grant of PC subject to meeting the medical conditions stipulated in para 120", the bench added.The Supreme Court had on October 22 directed the Centre to tender a statement in a tabulated form indicating reasons for the denial of permanent commission to 25 women officers, together with an affidavit expressly stating that no reasons independent of the directions issued by the Court have weighed in the grant/refusal of PC to the total 72 petitioners. "In other words, once the final judgment and order of this court has been pronounced, the consideration for the grant of PC has to be confined to the specific directions issued and not be based upon grounds independent of the judgment", the bench had clarified.On Friday, Justice Chandrachud stated,"We are holding the army guilty of contempt. We are putting you on guard and we are recording a finding on this. The Army may be supreme in its authority by this constitutional court is also supreme in its jurisdiction. We gave you a very long rope. The reason we had asked you to submit an affidavit that PC has not been denied to any officer on grounds of any consideration other than what we had said in our judgment was to put on notice"The bench took note of the affidavit filed by Col. P. K. Singh, Ministry Secretary-7 at IHQ, MOD (Army) who had also discharged duty to the Special Selection Board 5 in September 2020; the affidavit contains the tabulated statement.As the bench commenced dictation of the order, the ASG sought time until after the lunch break to confer with the army authorities.At 2 PM, the ASG told the bench, "I have explained to the concerned authorities that their interpretation of the directions of the Court is not correct and that the directions have to be complied with. Please don't dictate the order that Your Lordships were earlier. We accept the judgment to be complied as per para 120 and all women officers covered under 120 and who have not been granted PC so far, subject to the limitations in 120, will be granted PC. All WSSCOs who are not before the court but are meeting criteria of para 120 will be granted PC subject to their willingness"The bench then recorded, "After discussion with the army authorities, the ASG has apprised the court that the judgment in Nitisha's case will be implemented duly observing the directions in para 120 in respect of those officers left out so far from the grant of PC""The ASG states that the above dispensation has been arrived at upon instructions, intended to subserve the interests of WSSCOs, who form the subject matter of this court's judgment. We appreciate the fair stance of the army authorities in putting at rest all outstanding issues as regards WSSCOs", the bench added. The bench also assured Mr. Balasubramanian and the ASG that while editing the order, the bench shall clarify that the instant dispensation pertains only to women officers in terms of the judgment in Lt. Col. Nitisha's case.The bench headed by Justice D. Y. Chandrachud was hearing the contempt petition at the behest of 72 women officers of the Indian army who have moved the Court claiming that they have been denied Permanent Commission in violation of the March judgment of the Court. In March, another bench headed by Justice Chandrachud had held in Lt. Col. Nitisha's case that all women officers who have satisfied the 60% cut-off are entitled to PC subject to satisfaction of medical criteria as specified and satisfaction of vigilance and disciplinary clearance. It is the contention of the...

"The Army May Be Supreme In Its Authority But This Constitutional Court Is Also Supreme In Its Jurisdiction": Supreme Court Warns Army In 'Permanent Commission to Women' Matter

Mehal Jain

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