SC Sends Notice To Centre, Navy, Restrains Releasing Of Officers From Service

The Supreme Court (SC) of India on Monday restrained the Centre and Navy from releasing some officers, including both male and female officers, from service who were not granted a permanent commission.

Seeking a reply from the Centre, the bench comprising of Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant asked Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain and senior R Balasubramanian to again look into the grievances of a batch of naval officers, some of whom were released from service.

"Having regard to the fact that some of the officers are due for release on February 2, we direct that the officers who are already in service shall not be released pending further orders of this court", the bench directed.

Some of the naval officers were short of pensionable services by a year or two, the bench noted during the hearing. Those who have been released from service can be considered for pension, it said.

Issuing a notice to the Centre and Navy, the bench sought its response within four weeks on the batch of pleas filed by the short service commission naval officers, who were not considered for the Permanent Commission (PC).

Accepting the notice, Mr. Jain said that the matter would be looked into and a detailed counter affidavit would be filed in due time.

Senior advocates CU Singh, Huefza Ahmadi, Meenakshi Arora, and others apperaring for the Naval officers said that the vacancy position which had been calculated by the naval authorities were not in accordance with the directions of the court in the final judgement in the 2020 Commander Annie Nagaraj case.

The lawyers said that the vacancies that were spread over 15 years have been substantially reduced as a result of which officers who would otherwise be eligible for the grant of the permanent commission have not been granted the PC.

The officers did not have the opportunity to deny the contents as the proceedings of the selection board were tendered before the Armed Force Tribunal (AFT) on the last date of hearing, the lawyers disputed.

The bench further directed other matters which were pending before the AFT regarding the pre-2008 naval recruits shall be proceeded with by the tribunal and would not be affected by the present proceedings.

Notably, on March 17, 2020, the SC had paved the way for granting permanent commission to women officers in the Indian Navy in a major verdict. A level playing field would ensure that women have the opportunity to overcome “histories of discrimination”, it observed.

The apex court had said that the Centre’s contention that certain sea-going duties were ill-suited to women officers was premised on sex stereotypes that male officers were more suited to certain duties by the virtue of the physiological characteristics and to accept that it would be to “approve the socially ascribed gender roles which a commitment to equal worth and dignity of every individual belies”.

The Centre’s controversial 2008 policy restricting the grant of permanent commission to certain categories only was quashed by the top court.

While setting aside the implementation guidelines issued on December 3, 2008, it had said, “The stipulation in the policy letter dated September 6, 2008, making it prospective and restricting its application to specified cadres/branches of the Indian Navy shall not be enforced”.