Indian Army women officers are back before the Supreme Court to battle against yet another type of discrimination in the service after initially suing to be permanently absorbed into the army and subsequently promoted.
Two petitions claiming ongoing discrimination against women officers in the Army have been submitted to the Supreme Court, one by officers who were promoted to Colonel-rank and the other by those who were not empanelled.
Although the first group has complained about receiving a "substandard appointment" upon promotion, the second group has asserted that the selection committee established to nominate the officers for promotion did not take into account their entire performance.
Nonetheless, both have brought up a similar complaint over the number of openings from Lt. Colonel to Colonel that were decided to promote female officers to higher positions. They assert that when compared to the figures computed for their male counterparts, the 108 openings represent a tiny fraction.
A court headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud heard the two and expressed "severe concern" about how Army promotions were being handled. The petitioners' attorneys informed the court that the promotion process used by the Army's Special Selection Board was capricious and in contravention of its March 2021 ruling ordering the Army to promote women officers.
The Union Ministry of Defense has been given two weeks to respond, and the bench has also issued a contempt of court warning to the ministry. "Right now, we're giving you one final chance to clean house. Otherwise, we'll drag you up, the SC bench said.
