'Not Enough To Proudly Say Women Are Allowed To Serve Army When Their Service Conditions Tell A Different Story' : Supreme Court In Permanent Commission Case

Expressing anguish at the Indian Army's failure to implement the judgment allowing Permanent Commission for women officers, the Supreme Court said -"It is not enough to proudly state that women officers are allowed to serve the nation in the Armed Forces, when the true picture of their service conditions tells a different story".The judgment authored by Justice DY Chandrachud criticized the evaluation criteria adopted by the Indian Army to consider the applications of Women Short Service Commission Officers seeking Permanent Commission based on the landmark judgment in the Babita Puniya case, which recognized their entitlement for PC. The administrative requirements adopted by the Army in this regard were declared as "arbitrary and irrational".The Court noted that the Annual Confidential Reports(ACRs) of the applicants for the purposes of PC were prepared belatedly, as they were not entitled to PC at the relevant time. However, the performances and achievements of women officers beyond 5th year of service, and in some cases the 10th year of service, were not considered in the ACR."...the delayed implementation of the grant of PC to WSSCOs by the Army and considering of ACRs only till the 5th/10th year of service has led to a situation where, in effect, the Army has obliviated the years of service, hard work and honours received by WSSCOs beyond their 5th/10thyear of service and relegated them back to a position they held, in some cases, more than 10 years ago", the judgment observed."The lack of consideration given to the recent performance of WSSCOs for grant of PC is a disservice not just to these officers who have served the nation, but also to the Indian Army, which on one hand salutes these officers by awarding them honours and decorations, and on the other hand, fails to assess the true value of these honours when it matters the most - at the time of standing for the cause of the WSSCOs to realise their rights under the Constitution and be treated on an equal footing as male officers who are granted PC"Some of the finest women officers excludedThe Supreme Court noted with dismay that the decision of the Army to not take into account the qualifications of women Short Service Commission officers beyond their 5th or 10th year of services resulted in the exclusion of "some of the finest women officers who have served the Army"."Some of the finest women officers who have served the Indian Army and brought distinction by their performance and achievements have been excluded by refusing to consider their achievements on the specious ground that these were after the 5th/10th year of service". It noted that even women officers who have brought laurels to the nation, who have been awarded prestigious national awards, who have served in the United Nations and international assignments, or who have displayed excellent performances in sports were ignored on the ground that such achievements were beyond their 5th or 10th year of services.The evaluation process which has been followed in the case of the WSSCOs has clearly ignored that the writing of their ACRs was fundamentally influenced by the circumstance that at the relevant time an option of PC was not available for women.The Court mentioned the names of some of such officers as follows :"As an example it has been stated that Lt. Col. Shikha Yadav (as well as several other women officers) have been denied PC though they have been awarded the COAS commendation. Lt. Col. Tashi Thapliyal was awarded the Vishisht Seva Mandal. Several women officers who have served in UN Missions overseas have been denied PC. There are women officers who have excelled in national sports events, exemplified by Major Pallavi Sharma who has a proven track record inter alia in shooting championships which has been ignored"Army's criteria caused affront to dignity of womenThe Court noted that the army subjected the women officers to a rigorous medical criteria of SHAPE-1. SHAPE1 is an acronym with S' denotes the physiological features including cognitive function abnormalities, 'H' stands for hearing, 'A' for appendages, 'P' for physical capacity and 'E' for eye-sight.The WSSCOs who have been excluded on medical grounds in November 2020 have a legitimate grievance that whether they fulfilled the SHAPE 1 criterion has to be determined from their medical status on the date when they were entitled to be considered, following the decision of the Delhi High Court.It was submitted by the petitioners that while being in SHAPE 1 is the requirement at the induction or entry level, it is not the requirement for continued service in the Army. Many of their male counterparts who are granted PC in their 5th or 10th year of service are entitled to continue in ...

'Not Enough To Proudly Say Women Are Allowed To Serve Army When Their Service Conditions Tell A Different Story' : Supreme Court In Permanent Commission Case

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