LI Network
Published on: February 19, 2024 at 22:05 IST
The Supreme Court, during a hearing on February 19, was apprised by the Centre of an impending policy aimed at ensuring equitable rotations for both male and female officers empanelled in permanent commission within the Indian Army’s regular units.
This information surfaced while the court considered an application seeking proper implementation of the judgment in Lt. Col Nitisha v. UOI.
The petitioners raised concerns about the alleged discriminatory postings to major regular units for male officers compared to their female counterparts.
Senior Advocate V Mohana, representing the women officers, highlighted the disproportionate allocation of regular units based on gender.
Out of the 225 male officers granted permanent commission, all were assigned major regular units, whereas only 32 out of the 108 empanelled women officers received such postings.
Senior Advocate Mr R Balasubramaniam, representing the Indian Armed Forces, assured the court of an ongoing effort to formulate a new policy framework, expected to be published by March-April 2024.
Mr. Balasubramaniam clarified that the new policy, developed in response to the Nitisha Judgment, would address the concerns raised by ensuring rotations for all officers, irrespective of their command level, by March 2024. He stressed that this approach would eliminate any discriminatory treatment toward women officers.
Acknowledging this assurance, the bench scheduled the matter for the first week of April, requesting the Union to provide an updated status report on the policy and its implementation progress. Despite the petitioners’ request for a stay on the interim practice of appointing junior officers to regular units, the Chief Justice remarked that the court was not granting any stay at this point.
This development follows the Supreme Court’s directive to the Centre last year, urging the formulation of a policy for the promotion of women army officers granted permanent commission.
The current applications for directions stem from the Nitisha Judgment, where the court deemed the evaluation criteria for permanent commission for women officers in the Indian Army as “arbitrary and irrational.”
The judgment mandated the granting of Permanent Commission to women in the army across all streams, challenging the discriminatory policies in force previously.
Case Details: NITISHA vs. UNION OF INDIA THROUGH THE SECRETARY MINISTRY OF DEFENCE MA 000219 – / 2024