In Brief
Women Short Service Commissioned Officers in the Indian Army were denied Permanent Commission for decades despite being similarly eligible to male counterparts. When finally allowed to apply in 2020, their evaluation used performance records (ACRs) written when PC was unavailable to women, benchmarked them against the lowest-ranked male officer (contrary to existing policy), and applied strict medical fitness standards at a belated career stage. The Court held this constituted systemic and indirect discrimination under Articles 14, 15(1) and 16 of the Constitution. All women meeting the 60% cut-off must be granted PC unless they failed medical criteria at their 5th or 10th year of service. The Court extended benefits to junior batches not covered by the earlier Babita Puniya judgment and ordered full implementation within prescribed timelines.
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