Aishwarya Rathore –
Published On: October 9, 2021 at 10:00 IST
The Supreme Court gave the Centre one final chance to resolve the issue of the grant of Permanent Commission (PC) to 72 Women Short Service Commission Officers (WSSCO) in the Army.
A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and BV Nagarathna directed Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain and Senior Attorney R Balasubramanian to look into the matter personally.
The Court stated that the PC should be granted time in accordance with its order dated March 25, this year, and thereafter it will close the Contempt case filed by the Women officers.
The Bench stated in its order that if the women officers got 60% marks, passed medical fitness tests, and received vigilance and disciplinary clearances, they needed to be considered.
Jain stated that they filed an Affidavit showing that their conduct was reviewed by the Special Selection Board and that they were not found fit.
To this, the Court stated, “We have also said that the Permanent Commission will be granted subject to vigilance and disciplinary clearances. We will not compromise if there are no clearances. After all, we are dealing with the Indian Army. We also know the importance of vigilance clearances. We are also soldiers of this country.”
Last Friday, the Supreme Court ordered the Army not to discharge the 72 female officers until further orders were issued, and it demanded a reply within a week as to why they were not selected for service.
The women officers have alleged that the Apex Court’s 25 March ruling was not considered by the Army and all 72 of them were rejected from consideration for the PC at one go.
The Court further posted the matter till October 22.
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