Delhi HC issues notice in petition challenging UPSC decision barring women from military academies through CDS exam

The petitioner asserted that UPSC’s May 28 advertisement for the CDS-II Examination 2025, restricting women from applying to three of the four service branches was arbitrary and violative of the fundamental right to equality and profession

New Delhi

A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyay and justice Tushar Rao Gedela directed the Centre and UPSC to file their response in a petition. (Representative photo)

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice in a petition challenging the Union Public Services Commission’s (UPSC) decision barring women from applying to military academies through the Combined Defence Services (CDS) examination.

A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyay and justice Tushar Rao Gedela directed the Centre and UPSC to file their response in a petition filed by Kush Kalra, and fixed the next hearing for November 12.

In his petition, Kalra asserted that UPSC’s May 28 advertisement for the CDS-II Examination 2025, restricting women from applying to three of the four service branches—the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun; Indian Naval Academy (INA), Ezhimala; and Air Force Academy (AFA), Hyderabad—was arbitrary and violative of the fundamental right to equality and profession. The notification only permits women to apply to the Officers Training Academy, Chennai, in the Short Service Commission (SSC) course.

Kalra, in his plea, contended through advocate Jyotika Kalra, sought to highlight the inconsistency between the exclusion and the government’s own statement in the same notification, which claimed it “strives to have a workforce which reflects gender balance and women candidates are encouraged to apply.”

Such a contradiction, Kalra argued, exposes a systemic and discriminatory barrier that undermines the rights of aspiring women candidates and runs counter to constitutional principles and the Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling on permanent commission.

In February 2020, the Supreme Court, while allowing permanent commission to women officers in the Army, ruled that restricting the appointment of women to command positions was unconstitutional. To be sure, the Centre in September 2021, after the Supreme Court’s nudge, informed the court about its decision to induct women into the National Defence Academy (NDA). However, the top court in January 2022 demanded an explanation from the Union government on restricting the intake of women cadets in the upcoming session of the NDA to 19– the same as last year.

Citing the example of Col Sofyia Qureshi, one of the two women officers who briefed the media after India’s execution of Operation Sindoor, Kalra in his petition asserted that denying entry to women through CDS would deprive the country of such officers.

“This exclusion of women candidates from the opportunity to get employed through CDS, becomes a hurdle in the career advancement opportunities for women officers in the armed forces. The categorical exclusion of women candidates from applying for the CDS examination and getting selected for IMA, AFA and INA solely on the grounds of sex, without any reasonable or justifiable explanations is a violation of the fundamental right to equality,” the petition read.

Kalra said that even though the high court in April directed the Centre to take a call on the entry of women in CDS within eight weeks, no decision has been taken until now.