HC for policy on women in armed forces soon

The Delhi High Court fixes a deadline for the Centre to formulate its final policy on granting permanent commissions to women officers in non-combat positions, reports Bhadra Sinha.

The Delhi High Court on Friday fixed a deadline for the Centre to formulate its final policy on granting permanent commissions to women officers in non-combat positions.

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A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul gave the direction after going through a letter of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) in which the three services chiefs have “in principle” agreed to appoint women officers under the permanent commission but not in combat duties. Justice Kaul told the Centre's counsel the decision should be taken before November 14, the next date of hearing.

The orders were passed after army counsel Jyoti Singh placed the COSC recommendations before the court. Singh said the COSC was in the process of forwarding the recommendations to the Centre, which will take a final call. Singh sought “reasonable time” to get back to the court but Justice Kaul fixed a time limit and said: “We hope the Central Government will take a decision before that.”