Indian Army to grant permanent commission to 11 women Army officers, Centre informs SC

After the Supreme Court warned the Indian Army of contempt, the Central Government on Friday assured that it will provide Permanent Commission (PC) option to all 11 women Army officers. Centre also informed the apex court that a swift decision will be made within 10 days with regards to 11 women Army officers who approached SC for Permanent Commission. The matter was presented before Justice D Y Chandrachud. 

The SC order stated, "Ld ASG has stated that above dispensation upon instructions have been accepted to subserve the interest of women participation in the army.We appreciate the fair stand of army authority in putting at rest all outstanding issues pertaining to women SSC officer."

SC directs Centre to grant Permanent Commission to Female Army Officers

In October, the Supreme Court had directed the Centre to issue a statement in a tabular form enumerating the reasons for the denial of Permanent Commission to 25 women officers, along with an affidavit stating that no reasons besides the directives of the Court have weighed in the grant/refusal of PC to the total 72 petitioners. On 29 October, the Indian Army had gone ahead with its decision to grant 'Permanent Commission' to 39 women officers.

A division bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice BV Nagarathana had said, "In other words, once the final judgement and order of this court has been pronounced, the consideration of the grant of the PC has to be confined to these specific directions issued and not be based upon grounds independent of the judgement."

Also, the Apex court clarified that 39 of the above-mentioned female officers were found eligible for the grant of PC on a re-examination conducted by ASG Sanjay Jain and Senior Advocate R Balasubramanian, for the UOI and the Indian Army. The court directed that these officers should be granted Permanent Commission.

The Supreme Court made these observations while hearing a contempt petition on behalf of 72 women officers of the Indian Army, who sought the court's intervention, claiming that they were denied Permanent Commission in violation of another order passed by a bench, headed by Justice DY Chandrachud. The order, which was passed in March, held that all female officers who have satisfied the 60% cut-off are entitled to Permanent Commission, which is subjected to satisfaction of medical criteria as specified.

What is Permanent Commission? 

A Permanent Commission means a career in the Army till an officer retires. It means that if an officer gets selected through Permanent Commission entry then you have the option to serve your nation up to the age of retirement (60). Whereas in Short Service Commission (SSC), an officer has the option of joining the Army and serving as a Commissioned Officer for a period of 10 years, extendable up to 4 years.

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