The Supreme Court said denying permanent commission to women officers who have served the nation would result in a serious miscarriage of justice.
New Delhi| Women officers can sail with the same efficiency as male officers, the Supreme Court said on Monday as it cleared permanent commission for women in the Indian Navy, maintaining that men and women officers should be treated equally.
“They can sail with the same efficiency as male officers,” the top court said, cancelling the prospective effect of a policy barring women officers inducted before 2008 from being granted permanent commission in the navy.
Noting that “there can’t be 101 excuses for not granting gender equality in armed forces”, the top court stressed on the need for a level-playing field.
To deprive serving women officers of the opportunity to work as equals with men on a permanent commission (PC) in the Indian Navy is plain discriminatory, the Supreme Court ruled.
A bench of justices DY Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta followed up its February 17 decision in a similar case relating to the Indian Army, in which the top court had struck a blow for gender parity by holding that SSC women officers in service in the army were entitled to PC.
The central government took a stance before the Supreme Court that sea-going duties are ill-suited to women officers. This was turned down by the top court on the grounds that it is premised on sex stereotypes that male officers are more suited for certain duties by virtue of the physiological characteristics.
“To contend that women officers are ill-suited to certain avocations which involve them being aboard ships is contrary to the equal worth of the women officers who dedicate their lives to serving in the cause of the nation,” the court held on Tuesday, brushing aside the argument by the central government that sailing in the Indian Navy was not a proper career for women.
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The bench added that “quite apart from the policy letter dated 25 February 1999, the contention that certain sea-going duties are ill-suited to women officers is premised on sex stereotypes that male officers are more suited to certain duties by virtue of the physiological characteristics”.
In the Indian Air Force, women serve as fighter pilots.
The first naval woman pilot – Sub-Lieutenant Shivangi – joined the operational duties at the Kochi naval base on December 2 last year. She has been flying the Dornier surveillance aircraft of the Indian Navy. The officer was born in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur.
In August, Indian Air Force’s Wing Commander S Dhami become the first woman officer in the country to become the Flight Commander of a flying unit. Wing Commander Dhami took over as Flight Commander of a Chetak helicopter unit at the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad near Delhi.
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