Exercising its extraordinary power under article 142 of the Indian Constitution, the Supreme Court on November 16 directed the Centre and the Indian Air Force (IAF) to consider granting pensionary benefits to women officers of the Short Service Commission (SSC). The court heard pleas by a few women officers who served the SSC from IAF, seeking Permanent Commission and consequential benefits.
Around 32 women officers fought the legal battle that lasted for over 12 years, and it came to an end with a judgment ruling that their pensions would be granted on a level equivalent to the officers who went on to serve for 20 years. Among the 32 IAF officers, three are widows who lost their husbands in the line of duty.
Honouring Years Of Service
In a landmark ruling, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices Hima Kohli and J B Pardiwala, directed the Centre and IAF to consider granting the benefits of pension to 32 women officers who retired from the SSC. The grant comes along with the condition that it would be given on the basis of their suitability, as decided by the IAF, for the purpose of giving them pensionary benefits.
As a result, those found eligible by the IAF will be entitled to a one-time pensionary grant from the date when they would have completed 20 years in service if they would have continued. The responsible officials would have to look into granting the officers their pension benefits after evaluating the case on the basis of the Human Resources (HR) policy of November 2010.
However, the bench refused the officer's request to be reinstated, stating that it was not a viable option. "Keeping in mind the requirement related to exigencies of serving the nation", the bench observed that the officers cannot return to their duties as they were released from their services between 2006 and 2009. The former officers were found to have joined the SSC services between the years 1993-98 under the legitimate expectation that they would be considered for permanent services after the five-year tenure, in regard to the prevailing policies. After the said tenure, the officers were considered for extensions of six and four years of service but were not taken in for permanent service commission.
Reference To Babita Puniya Case
An article by LiveMint reported that the apex court had made the decision after drawing parallels with the February 17, 2020 Babita Puniya case. The case was among the few that openly questioned the discriminatory recruitment practices of the armed forces for women. Stating that many qualified women were being excluded from positions that they would otherwise be entitled to, the observations made in the case paved the way for an increased intake of women officers in the defense forces.
After the case, women officers received the option to serve a full career and permanent commission, as opposed to the earlier restrictions of 10 to 14 years of service. Furthermore, it had also directed that all serving SSC women officers had to be considered for permanent commission irrespective of their years of service.
However, the recent ruling had its set of limitations and made it clear that the 32 petitioners would not be entitled to a permanent commission or even arrears of salary. The pension arrears would be the only benefit extended to these officers from the date when they would be completing 20 years of deemed services. Appreciating the IAF for taking a "fair approach" in the matter, the bench also asked them to consider a similar plea of two widow officers on "sympathetical" grounds.
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