New Delhi, March 25: The Supreme Court on Thursday called the evaluation criteria adopted by the Indian Army to consider the grant of permanent commission for women officers as "arbitrary and irrational". A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah also directed the Indian Army to reconsider the pleas of nearly 650 women Short Service Commission officers seeking grant for permanent commission within a month. Who Is Justice NV Ramana? All About the Supreme Court Judge Who Has Been Recommended by SA Bobde As Next CJI.

"We must recognize here, that the structures of our society have been created by males for males. Therefore, certain structures which may appear to be facially harmless are an indication of insidious patriarchal system. A facially equal application of laws to unequal parties is farce, when law is structured to cater to male standpoint. Superficial face of Equality does not stand true to the principles enshrined in the Constitution," the Supreme Court observed. SC Closes Proceedings on SCBA Plea Against SOP for Hybrid Hearing, Lawyers' Body to Write to CJI.

The observation came in a batch of petitions filed by women officers challenging the rejection of their applications seeking permanent commission. The top court also said that the evaluation criteria adopted by the Army to benchmark the women officers with the lowest credentials of their male counter-parts had caused "serious hardship" to the applicants. It noted the criteria led to the exclusion of "some of the finest women officers who have served the Army".

"Some of the finest women officers who have served the Indian army have been excluded on the specious ground that these have been achieved after 5/10 years on the ground that the benchmark of lowers credentials of male counterparts were not met", the Supreme Court said.

In March last year, the top court had asked the Centre and the Navy to grant permanent commissions to SSC women officers in the Indian Navy, and sought implementation of its order within three months. It had subsequently extended, till December 31, the deadline for implementation of its verdict after the Centre, citing coronavirus pandemic, sought extension of the deadline by six months. (With IANS inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 25, 2021 12:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).