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Centre says women can join National Defence Academy, tells SC it needs time to implement change

Centre tells Supreme Court that it wants status quo maintained for November exam since infrastructural changes need to happen, top court sets next hearing for 22 September.

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New Delhi: Nudged by the Supreme Court, the Centre has decided to induct women under the permanent commission scheme through the National Defence Academy (NDA).

Appearing before a bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhatti said the decision was taken late Tuesday after consulting with the three service chiefs.

However, she requested the court to order a status quo for the exams being held this November, which will screen applicants for the forthcoming academic year, as the government needs time to implement its decision which will require infrastructural changes.

Appreciating the government’s move, the bench asked Bhatti to put the developments in the form of an affidavit, which, it added, should also outline the future plan.

“Let us know what you are doing now, what you want to do in future and why you want us to order the status quo. But let us tell you there has to be a deadline for all this,” the bench said, fixing 22 September as the next date of hearing.


Also read: SC cleared way for permanent commission but women must measure up for their armed forces role


‘We step in only when nothing happens’

The top court is hearing a PIL by advocate Kush Kalra, who has sought that the NDA open its doors to women aspiring to join the armed forces. The NDA is one of the two modes for direct entry to the armed forces and the exam is held by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC).

On 18 August, as an interim measure, the Supreme Court had permitted women candidates to take the entrance exam for National Defence Academy (NDA) that was initially scheduled for 5 September but was pushed to November.

In its prima facie view, the bench had noted NDA’s admission policy is “based on gender discrimination”.

“We direct the respondent to take a constructive view of the matter in view of the judgment of this court (in the matter related to permanent commission for women in the army),” the bench said.

On Wednesday, Bhatti, at the outset informed the bench about the new policy decision. She said the idea was always in the thought process but at the seeding stage. Once implemented, it would be an instrumental, path-breaking and generational reform, she added.

In response, the bench said if Bhatti was instructed properly before the last hearing, then the court would have refrained from issuing any instructions.

“It is not a happy situation when we (courts) have to step in. We periodically nudge the authorities and step in only when nothing happens,” the court said.

Armed forces, it added, is a respected institution, but “on gender equality front, they have to do more”.

Justice Kaul further said the court was not averse to giving some time to implement the policy decision, but wanted the government to put it on record before the court.

As a judge of the Delhi High Court, it was Justice Kaul who had authored the path-breaking judgment directing the government to grant permanent commission to women officers who joined the Army as short-service commission officers. His judgment was challenged in the Supreme Court, which was finally upheld in February 2020.

(Edited by Manasa Mohan)


Also read: Women in combat roles: India can romanticise it but here’s why we are not ready yet


 

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