india

Updated: Mar 17, 2020 06:48 IST

The Supreme Court (SC) will give its verdict on Tuesday on grant of permanent commission for serving women officers in Indian Navy.

A permanent commission entitles an officer to serve in the Navy till he/she retires unlike short service commission (SSC), which is currently for 10 years and can be extended by four more years, or a total of 14 years.

The judgment will be delivered by a bench of justices DY Chandrachud and Ajay Rastogi.

The case pertains to appeals filed by the Union government against a September 2015 judgment of Delhi high court (HC) holding that there was no convincing reason to exclude serving women officers from consideration for permanent commission.

The Centre had decided in September 2008 to grant permanent commission to women officers but the same was applicable only prospectively to women SSC officers. The serving women officers were excluded from this entitlement. The HC had held that exclusion of serving women officers from permanent commission was irrational and arbitrary. The court cited women officers who had retired during the pendency of the case before they could be reinstated.

The SC had in February this year, in a similar issue relating to the Indian Army, struck a blow for gender parity holding that SSC women officers in service are entitled to permanent commission. Such women officers -- the apex court held on February 17 -- have to be considered for permanent commission, irrespective of them having exceeded 14 years of service. The proposal by the Central government in this regard to restrict PC to SSC women officers with less than 14 years of service was rejected by the SC.