THE SC PASSED AN INTERIM ORDER ALLOWING WOMEN TO APPEAR FOR THE NDA EXAM

The Supreme Court bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy passed an interim order allowing women to appear for the National Defence Academy examination, which will be held on September 5, 2021. However, the admissions will be subject to the final orders of the Top Court.

While passing the interim order, the SC bench called out the policy as gender discriminatory and slammed the Army and government for not allowing women in the NDA examination. The court said, "this is a mindset problem; you better change it; don't force the court to pass orders".

The Bench passed the landmark judgment in response to a writ petition filed by Kush Kalra seeking permission for women to appear for the NDA examination. The Petition Contended that denial of eligible women to join NDA is a violation of Articles 14, 15, 16, and 19 of the constitution. Men are granted permanent commission in the armed forces after they pass NDA. However, women are considered for the permanent commission in a latter stage only after being recruited as short service commission officers.

Author: Papiha Ghoshal