Navy, IAF more responsive to gender justice: Supreme Court

The Navy and the Air Force were more forthcoming on ensuring gender justice in the armed forces, but the Army was on board now, the Supreme Court said, while counselling patience to petitioners who had sought gender parity for women in armed forces.

"The Army was a bit reluctant for operational reasons. They have their constraints. But now they have accepted the process," Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said. "Any such process takes time." Recruiting more women involves logistical and infrastructural changes, he said, giving the government and the armed forces some respite from the rigorous judicial scrutiny which paved the way for appointment of short service commission officers as permanent commission officers in the Army.

The bench was dealing with a defence ministry plea for more time to increase intake of women in NDA and other educational institutions. It had sought three months. The intake for all three wings in NDA for this year has been fixed at 19.


Advocate Kush Kalra who had moved the court sought higher intake of women. The ministry said it has accepted in principle to increase intake but would take time to study the implications of such a move. It also said that it would also take time to make institutional changes such as separate locker-rooms, toilets, hostels etc., before it can increase intake. Women are currently allowed in all non-combat units.