‘Permanent commission not even given to 50% women army officers’

New Delhi, Nov 25 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the Centre’s response on a plea by 17 Indian Army women officers alleging that the Army has not granted permanent commission (PC) to even to 50 per cent of the women applicants.
A bench, headed by Justice D. Y. Chandrachud, asked the Centre to bring record the information, through a chart, providing details of the status of each applicant.
The top court has listed the matter for further hearing in December.
The plea, filed through advocate Archana Pathak Dave, assailed the arbitrary criterion adopted by board for permanent commissions, which denied benefit to deserving women candidates.
Arguing that the exercise of granting permanent commissions has been carried out “more in optics that in substance”, the plea emphasised that the Army has not granted permanent commissions to even 50 per cent of the total number of women officers distributed in 31 batches.
On February 17, the apex court had delivered a landmark verdict extending permanent commission to women Short Service Commission Officers at par with their male counterparts.