NEW DELHI: In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the pleas of women Short Service Commission officers to be fairly evaluated for permanent commission and quashed application of fitness standards of a 35-year-old male officer to women now in the 45-50 age group. The bench noted that the structure of our society is created by males for males where talk of equality is a farce.
The women officers had first moved the Delhi high court in 2003 seeking permanent commission, which was allowed by the court in non-combat units in 2010. On February 17, 2020, the SC upheld the verdict and asked the Army to grant PC to women SSC officers. However, 86 women officers were back in the SC alleging arbitrary rejection by retrospective application of standards.
In a heart-warming, 137-page judgment studded with analysis of various kinds of discrimination faced by women, a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said, “The evaluation criteria set by the Army constituted systemic discrimination against the petitioners.”