In Brief
This landmark judgment addresses the grant of Permanent Commission to Short Service Commissioned women officers in the Indian Navy. The Court held that once statutory notifications lifted the restriction on women's appointment in the Navy (1991, 1998), women officers became entitled to be considered for Permanent Commission under the same statutory regulations as men, particularly Regulation 203 of the 1963 Naval Regulations. A policy letter from 1999 confirmed this entitlement. The Court invalidated a 2008 policy that restricted Permanent Commission to women officers recruited afterwards. Rejecting arguments that women are unsuited for sea-going duties as sex stereotypes, the Court directed reconsideration of all serving women SSC officers for Permanent Commission and awarded pensionary benefits and compensation (₹25 lakhs each) to women officers who were wrongly denied consideration and released from service.
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