Permanent commission in Army: SC allows pleas of women officers, says ACR evaluation process flawed

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the pleas of several women short service commission (SSC) officers seeking grant of Permanent Commission (PC) in the Army and held that the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) evaluation process was flawed and discriminatory in nature.

Terming the ACR evaluation process as "arbitrary and irrational", the apex court said that the criteria for grant of PC to women officers ignored the achievement and laurels brought by them to the Indian Army.

A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud said the process by which women officers were evaluated did not address the gender discrimination concern raised in the verdict delivered by the apex court last year.

The top court delivered the verdict on a batch of pleas filed by several women officers who had sought compliance of its February last year directions to the Centre for grant of permanent commission, promotions and consequential benefits.

In its landmark verdict delivered on February 17 last year, the top court had directed that women officers in the Army be granted permanent commission, rejecting the Centre's stand of their physiological limitations as being based on "sex stereotypes" and "gender discrimination against women".

It had directed that within three months, all serving SSC women officers have to be considered for permanent commission irrespective of them having crossed 14 years or, as the case may be, 20 years of service.