New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on March 25, allowed the pleas of several women Short Service Commission officers seeking grant of permanent commission in the Army, and held that the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) evaluation process was flawed and discriminatory in nature.The bench also noted that the structure of society is created by males for males where talk of equality is a farce and since Independence, efforts have been made to bridge the gap and grant equal opportunity to men and women.A batch of pleas had been filed by several women officers who had sought compliance of the Supreme Court’s directions in February 17, 2o2o, to the Centre for the grant of a permanent commission, promotions and consequential benefits to women.In its landmark judgement, the apex court had directed that women officers in the Army be granted permanent commission, rejecting the Centre’s stand of their physiological limitations as being based on “sex stereotypes” and “gender discrimination against women”.It had directed that within three months, all serving short service commission (SSC) women officers have to be considered for permanent commission irrespective of them having crossed 14 years or, as the case may be, 20 years of service.Also read: On Permanent Commission for Women Officers, the Army Continues to Drag Its FeetThe women officers had alleged in their plea that the procedures for grant of permanent commission is “vitiated with arbitrariness, unfairness and unreasonableness”.In an analysis for The Wire, Prerna Dhoop and Vandana Dhoop noted in July, 2020, that “the initial steps taken by the Indian Army since then have not been promising at all.”Calling the measures taken up to implement the orders “tardy, fragmented and discriminatory,” the authors said, “The Indian Army is doing very little to alleviate the fears, apprehensions and vulnerabilities of the serving women officers and almost nothing to guarantee them a favourable future.”Delivering its verdict on the pleas on Thursday, the apex court came down upon the fact that there was discrimination in the application of fitness standards, which are called ‘Shape 1 criteria’, and which are applicable to male officers at the time when they were granted Permanent Commission in the early years of service, but are applicable to women officers only since last year.“Superficial face of equality will not be in consonance with the principles enshrined in the Constitution,” the court said, according to a report by Bar and Bench.Also read: The Army Was Peddling Its Sexism by Proxy, But the SC Was Not FooledThe court said the ACR evaluation criteria for grant of permanent commission to women officers ignored achievements and laurels brought by them to the Indian Army. It also created “systemic discrimination”, the court held.A bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said the process by which women officers were evaluated did not address the gender discrimination concern raised in the verdict delivered by the apex court last year.“The ACR evaluation process itself indicated that it was flawed and we hold it to be unfair and arbitrary,” the bench said.It is not enough to state that women officers are allowed in Army when their service condition show a different picture, it said.“Women who have not been granted permanent commission have not come before us for charity, but for their rights,” the top court said.(With PTI inputs)
