The Supreme Court has finally given the verdict on granting Permanent Commission to the female army officers. In the judgment, the court upheld that women should be at par with their male counterparts.
Supreme Court Slams Societal Structure
As per the statement given by the Supreme Court on Thursday, they said that the structures of society have been created by the men for the men. And the equality in such a situation would be farce. They also acknowledged that if the change doesn’t happen now, women won’t get the equal opportunity.
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To implement the same, the Supreme Court has directed the Centre to consider Permanent Commission (PC) to the female army officers as well. This shall be done within a month and allow the same within 2 months after the process starts.
In this, sixty female officers were moved towards the top court to complain against the denied PC in the Army. They said that the reason given to them was the failure to adhere to Shape- I fitness.
The bench was headed by the Justice D.Y. Chandrachud. He said that the Army’s selective ACR evaluation and late implementation of Shape 1 criteria sets the ground for discrimination and disproportion towards women officers who want to be granted with PC.
The Supreme Court also criticised the army for discriminating against women and denying the PC. They said that women have brought laurels for the country across different fields and they were being ignored.
To respond to the same, army said that the medical category has been applied due to the age-related factors that also come into play while granting Permanent Commission. However, the top court said that women officers were given symbolic equality and the same criteria cannot be applied to women after 10 years of service.
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What is the Permanent Commission in the Army?
Permanent Commission in Indian Army means that a person is eligible to have a career in the Indian Army until they retire. However, until the judgment, only men were eligible for the PC.
