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The Supreme Court of India has directed the Centre not to release from service Short Service Commission (SSC) women Army officers who are challenging the denial of permanent commission. The Court emphasized the need to “not bring their morale down” in the prevailing situation. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh posted a batch of pleas filed by 69 officers for hearing in August and instructed that they should not be released until the next hearing.
Justice Kant remarked, “In the prevailing situation let’s not bring their morale down. They are brilliant officers, you can use their services somewhere else. This is not the time that they be asked to roam around in the Supreme Court. They have a better place to be and serve the country.”
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Centre, argued that the decision to release these officers was an administrative one based on a policy to maintain a youthful profile in the armed forces. She urged the Court not to grant any stay on their release, stating that the Indian Army required young officers and that only 250 personnel were granted permanent commission each year.
Senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy, representing Colonel Geeta Sharma, highlighted the case of Colonel Sofia Qureshi, one of the two women officers who had briefed the media on Operation Sindoor on May 7 and 8. Advocate Guruswamy pointed out that Colonel Qureshi had previously approached the Court for similar relief related to permanent commission and had since made the country proud.
The bench refrained from commenting extensively on this submission, stating that the case before the Court was purely a legal one, unrelated to the achievements of the officers.
In its February 17, 2020, judgment, the Supreme Court had declared the absolute exclusion of women from all positions, except staff assignments, in the Army as indefensible. The Court also ruled that their blanket non-consideration for command appointments without any justification could not be sustained in law. The Court had allowed permanent commission to women officers in the Army and noted that an absolute prohibition of women SSC officers to obtain anything but staff appointments evidently did not fulfill the purpose of granting permanent commission as a means of career advancement in the Army.
The Court had also referred to the distinctions achieved by women officers and cited the example of Colonel Qureshi’s achievements. Since the 2020 verdict, the Court has passed several orders on the issue of permanent commission to women officers in the armed forces, including similar orders for the Navy, Indian Air Force, and Coast Guard.
The current case underscores the ongoing efforts to ensure equal opportunities for women in the armed forces and the judiciary’s role in upholding these rights.
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