"They May Have Climbed Mount Everest In The Past, Now You Say They Are Not In Shape-1": Supreme Court To Govt. On Permanent Commission Of Women In Army

"When it suits you, you ask for today's fitness, SHAPE 1 as on today. But you ignore their years of meritorious service rendered post the 5th year or the 10th year. This shows how warped it is. Is the idea to exclude women or to give them equal opportunity?", remarked Justice DY Chandrachud on TuesdayThese observations came on the Centre's response to the argument of the lady officers who have been denied Permanent Commission, that while in adjudging their suitability on merit, their intervening service records after the 5th or the 10th year of induction are disregarded, the medical yardstick of Grade 1 in the relevant factors- Psychological (Cognitive functions and normalities), Hearing, Appendage, Physical and Eyesight (signified by the acronym 'SHAPE') that they must meet is required to be as on date of their consideration for grant of PC."Some of them might have become national swimmers, they might have gone on the around-the-world yacht expedition, they may have climbed Mount Everest in the intervening years, but all this is ignored. They are senior officers of the Army and some of your best candidates, but you are not even looking at this. Even the subsequent honours and awards are not considered ", continued the judge. ASG Sanjay Jain, appearing for the Defence Ministry, asserted that the same consideration of service records uptil the 5th or the 10th year is applicable to their male counterparts also. At this, Justice Chandrachud pointed out that the male officers were also considered for PC upon completion of their 5 or 10 years in service, as against the lady officers."There has to be some cut-off somewhere...", the ASG sought to advance."When it suits you, you ask for today's fitness, SHAPE 1 as on today. This shows how warped it is. Is the idea to exclude women or to give them equal opportunity?", wondered Justice Chandrachud."The Union of India has no mala fide intention. We have applied those tests which meet the standards of objectivity and include the maximum possible people, and have kept within the realm of our policy in doing so", the ASG had sought to advance."We are not disputing that it is as per the Army Order, that you are applying SHAPE 1 across the board for everyone. But the Delhi High Court had granted some relief in 2011 to the lady officers. And the Supreme Court expressly said that it is not staying that order of the High Court. If you are bound by the rule of law, as we believe the Indian Army to be, you should have considered the lady officers in 2011. Even if you do not go as back as to the 5th year or the 10th year, you were obligated to consider them for permanent commission as in 2011. If on account of your failure to do so, between 2011 and 2020, many women officers have gone out of SHAPE 1, can you board them out now, saying that they are not SHAPE 1 today? Can you turn around to say that today they don't meet the criteria?", Justice Chandrachud had asked in the course of the hearing."Even not focusing on the hormonal changes which are peculiar to women, on account of menopause or childbirth, there are certain physiological changes that both men and women undergo with age, women more than men. So far as Appendage is concerned, there is a loss of bone density with advancement in age, and there is a precipitate decline in the bone density of women. This is why post 50, they are advised to take calcium supplements and a calcium-rich diet to compensate for this loss, which happens because of hormonal changes. Even our bone density is not similar to what it used to be when we were 25 or when we were in college.", the judge had reflected."Say, there is a woman officer who is an engineer in the army. If she was considered in 2011 or 2012, when she was 30 years old and had not been subjected to the ravages of age, she would have qualified. On the other hand, a man with a similar condition as her today is not boarded out of service and continues to be in the army, just because he was considered in the 5th or the 10th year! Your failure to consider the women officers at the appropriate time cannot be used to say today that they are not in SHAPE 1 as of today and so they do not qualify for PC. This is the heart of arbitrariness ", Justice Chandrachud had noted."If you look at your Lieutenant Generals and Major Generals, so far as the 'A' factor is concerned, they will one hundred percent not be in SHAPE 1 today! It is not physically possible after 51-52. We got your point that to qualify for PC, both male and women officers have to be in SHAPE 1. But, to our mind, it is arbitrary that despite the Supreme Court order, you didn't consider them in 2011. We are not even going as back as the 5th or the 10th year", continued the judge"Both women and men officers, when they are considered for any position, they are aware that they have to be SHAPE 1. And SHAPE 1 is not static. The physiological factors linked with the inevitable advancement of age have been considered...The weight...

"They May Have Climbed Mount Everest In The Past, Now You Say They Are Not In Shape-1": Supreme Court To Govt. On Permanent Commission Of Women In Army

Mehal Jain

Govt’s Failure To Consider Women Officers At Appropriate Time Cannot Be Used To Say Today that They Are Not In Shape-1, Supreme Court told Centre.

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