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A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh made the observations while hearing arguments by senior lawyer Maneka Guruswamy, representing Wing Commander Sucheta Aidan and others, who claimed discrimination when she was denied Permanent Commission (PC).
“In a system, every duty is a responsible duty, be it ground duty or air duty… The country is proud of your services. We are proud of your services,” the CJI said when an SSC woman officer argued for herself to give details of her job profile in the Air Force.
Guruswamy referred to the 2019 HR policy of the armed forces and attacked it, saying the criteria for being considered for PCs were changed, and it violated Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.
Referring to specific cases of some SSC officers, the senior counsel said that they had the requisite CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) and yet they were not considered as their cases were not graded as they were pregnant and on maternity leave.
He cited various judgments and said that it has been held that women employees cannot be discriminated against on account of pregnancy and maternity leave. The bench will resume the final hearing in the case on December 9.
On May 22, the top court had directed the Center and the Indian Air Force not to remove from service the woman officer, who was part of Operation Balakot and Operation Sindoor, but had refused to grant her permanent commission.
It had sought response from the Center and the Indian Air Force on the plea of Wing Commander Nikita Pandey, who claimed discrimination when he was denied permanent commission.
Justice Kant had said, “Our Air Force is one of the best organizations in the world. The officers are very commendable. The quality of coordination they have demonstrated, I think, is unparalleled. Therefore, we always salute them. They are a great asset to the nation. They are, in a way, the nation. It is because of them that we are able to sleep at night.”
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The bench said that the “hard life” for SSC officers began after their recruitment, requiring some incentive after 10 or 15 years to grant them permanent commission.
Justice Kant had said, “The feeling of uncertainty cannot be good for the armed forces. This is a layman’s suggestion, as we are not experts. There can be no agreement on the minimum benchmark.
Since the 2020 judgment, the top court has passed several orders on the issue of permanent commission to women officers in the armed forces, and similar orders were passed in the case of the Navy, Indian Air Force and Coast Guard.
Permanent commission in the armed forces is a career path that allows an officer to serve till the age of retirement. Unlike an SSC, which has a fixed tenure, a PC offers a long-term career with opportunities for promotion to the highest rank and full rights to pension and other retirement benefits.
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