The army had previously claimed that in order to be promoted to colonel select rank, an officer required to fulfill the “essential eligibility criteria” of having at least two confidential reports (CR).
The Supreme Court closed proceedings in a pending application seeking gender-neutral standards to be adopted by the selection board in considering their case for promotion vis-à-vis their male counterparts. On Monday, the court allowed women officers alleging discrimination in promotion to challenge the policy introduced last month by the Indian Army for promotion to the rank of brigadier.
“Now that there is a policy in place, the challenge to it must be heard in an appropriate proceeding,” a bench headed by chief justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud said. The army unveiled a guideline on March 29 called “Future Career Progression Policy for Women Officers,” endorsing brigadier promotions through selection board – 2 (SB-2) in response to the court’s prodding.
Considering the petition submitted by around thirty women colonels, the bench—which also included justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said, “If the petitioners are aggrieved by the policy dated March 29, they will have to take remedies as per law. We are not entering into merits absent any procedure as per law. The application is disposed.”
A copy of the new policy was presented by senior advocate R Balasubramanian representing the army and attorney general R Venkataramani representing the Center. They both stated that this policy will govern any future promotions made by SB-2.
“Large number of relaxations have been granted to the women officers and large number of them have been promoted,” Venkataramani said. “You cannot keep asking for relaxations.”
He added that the army’s current policy for lieutenant colonel to colonel promotions only dates back to November 2021 (SB-3). The army was given until March 31 by the court in December to develop a policy pertaining to SB-2.
The women officers in the army, which has been criticized by the highest court for its patriarchal mentality, have gone a long way in battling for their rightful place in the ranks. They have benefited from two previous Supreme Court decisions in the Babita Puniya case (2020) and the Nitisha case (2021).
