Women officers in the army have won an important victory. The government has told the Supreme Court that it would consider giving permanent commission to women serving as short service commission (SSC) officers in the legal and education branches of the army.
The success for SSC officers came after a seven-year battle, but there’s a long way to go for those wanting permanent commission in combat, infantry and other wings of the army.
There are 2,200 women officers in the three services —1,200 in the army, 750 in the air force and 250 in the navy. Sixty army officers had challenged the government’s discriminatory policy.
Women are inducted in the army under the SSC for a maximum period of 14 years, whereas their male counterparts are eligible to receive permanent commission after five years.
Delhi high court had in March asked the armed forces to grant permanent commission to women. It had also issued a contempt notice to the chief of army staff for not obeying its directives. This led the Union government to move an appeal against the HC directive before the Supreme Court.
When the proceeding started, a concerned bench of justices JM Panchal and Gyan Sudha Mishra asked solicitor general (SG) Gopal Subramanium, “Why do you give women SSC commission at all if you don’t find them eligible for permanent commission? Why is permanent commission given in the air force?”
To this, Subramanium said, “Women get permanent commission in Indian Air Force because they are not in combat, whereas in the army, they have to command troops.”
The judges also wanted to ascertain whether women officers in SSC lead troops to the battlefield. Subramanium said only male officers on permanent commission are trained to command troops. “If an officer isn’t trained for 15 years to lead troops, how can he be given permanent commission,” the SG said. When judges asked the SG whether any woman officer has ever been sent to the battlefield, he said no.
The judges also summoned records showing that male officers who are given permanent commission after SSC are sent for battle-training.
