SC gives permanent commission to woman Army officer excluded from benefit extended to other women officers

Holding that she was wrongly excluded from the benefit which other similarly placed officers were given, the Supreme Court on Monday granted permanent commission to a woman Army officer.

"We direct that the appellant's case be taken up for grant of permanent commission and she be extended the benefit of permanent commission with effect from the same date the similarly situated persons who obtained benefits pursuant to the judgment dated January 22, 2014... of the Principal Bench of the AFT," a Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan said.

The Bench ordered that its directions be implemented in four weeks and all consequential benefits such as seniority, promotion and monetary benefits, including arrears be extended to petitioner Lt. Col. Suprita Chandel.

Thoughts on conditions of service and job perquisites would be last in the minds of valiant Indian soldiers bravely guarding the frontiers at Siachen or in other difficult terrains, it noted.

Noting that Lt. Col. Chandel had a distinguished service, the top court exercised its plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant her permanent commission.

"Will it be fair to tell them that they will not be given relief even if they are similarly situated, since the judgment they seek to rely on was passed in the case of certain applicants alone who moved the court? We think that would be a very unfair scenario," it said.

The Bench set aside an AFT order that granted relief to other applicants by allowing them a one-time age relaxation but denied it to petitioner Lt. Col. Suprita Chandel on the ground that she was not a party to the original case.

The woman officer contended she could not join the applicants in the litigation at that time as she was in her advanced stage of pregnancy.

Lt. Col. Chandel – who is posted in the Army Dental Corps at Agra had challenged the January, 2022 order declining her prayer for reliefs similar to the ones granted by the January, 2014 verdict of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) Principal Bench.

Accepting the stand of the Centre in this case would result in the top court putting its imprimatur on an "unreasonable stand" adopted by the authorities, the Bench noted.