Court notice to Defence Ministry on woman officer's plea for permanent commission

Court notice to Defence Ministry on woman officer’s plea for permanent commission

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Indian Coast Guard and the Ministry of Defence in response to a plea filed by a short-service appointment officer who was denied the opportunity to be considered for a Permanent Commission despite serving for 14 years with an impeccable record.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud issued the notice on a plea filed by Priyanka Tyagi through her counsel and Senior Advocate Archana Pathak Dave. The court stated that the officer should be considered for a Permanent Commission given her impeccable record during 14 years of service.

The case is scheduled to be heard on February 19.

In her plea, the officer stated, “The Petitioner was part of the first-ever All Women Crew on the Dornier Aircraft deployed in the Eastern Region for undertaking Maritime Patrolling as Captain of the Aircraft near the IMBL at ICGAS Chennai. The Petitioner was selected as GD Officer after just two years of service and was given the opportunity to be an observer/Navigator, for which the Petitioner underwent special aviation medical and had cleared on merit. The Petitioner was selected accordingly and completed 13 months of flying training to qualify as a navigator. As of the present date, the Petitioner has the highest flying hours, with 4500 hours on the Dornier Aircraft, displaying heroism in saving more than 300 lives at sea.”

The plea further detailed how the board, which was to decide on granting permanent commission to the SSA women officers in the Indian Coast Guard, was cancelled two days prior. The board is now only constituted for the induction of women officers.

“The sudden cancellation of the policy for Permanent Commission to the SSA during the pendency of the Writ Petition was nothing but an arbitrary call without even considering that the Petitioner gave 14 years of her life to an organisation and offering her a permanent cadre would highly benefit the organisation,” the plea stated.

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