NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Wednesday criticised the ‘arbitrariness’ in how short service commission (SSC) women officers are assessed for permanent commission (PC) in the army compared to male officers.The bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh questioned why women and men are evaluated differently, despite undergoing the same training and postings.“How can there be two criteria based on gender? Is there a different format for evaluating SSC women officers and male officers? Is this format different for SSC officers and those in permanent commission?” the bench questioned. Senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy, representing 13 women officers, said their annual confidential reports (ACRs) were graded casually before they were eligible for PC in 2020. Unlike men, whose performance was continuously assessed for PC, women’s ACRs were frozen in 2019. She highlighted that officers like Lt Col Vanita Padhi, Lt Col Chandni Mishra and Lt Col Geeta Sharma served in UN missions, high-altitude areas, and counter-insurgency operations. Some held ‘criteria appointments’ during operations such as Galwan and Sindoor, but their ACRs were marked ‘non-criteria reports’, unlike men whose similar postings were recognised as ‘criteria reports’ and considered for PC. A ‘criteria appointment’ refers to command of a post in difficult or hostile areas. The court noted that this difference violates Articles 14 and 15 and may reflect conservative thinking among senior officers. Guruswamy also said the women officers were not given pension or medical allowances in line with their postings.The women officers have relied on the 2020 verdict directing the army to grant permanent commission, which had said excluding women from command positions was indefensible and blocked career advancement.Since that verdict, the court has issued several orders on granting PC to women across the armed forces, including the navy, air force and coast guard. The hearing, which included serving and retired army officers, will continue on Thursday. The Supreme Court will next hear similar pleas from women in the navy and air force.
