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Denying permanent positions to women patriarchal: SC to govt
It was not that women were not employed as permanent officers in the coast guard, additional solicitor general Vikramjeet Banerjee, appearing for the Centre along with senior advocate R Balasubramanian for Indian Coast Guard, told the court
Denying women officers permanent positions in the Indian Coast Guard reflects a “patriarchal” mindset, the Supreme Court said on Monday, admonishing the authorities for not translating talk of women’s empowerment into appropriate action.
The court was hearing a petition filed by pilot and navigator Priyanka Tyagi, who was released from service in December last year without allowing her request to be made permanent in the coast guard, which she served for 14 years and rose through the ranks from her initial appointment as assistant commandant in 2009 to commandant, junior grade.
“Times have gone when you said women cannot be in the coast guard,” said a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud. “If women can guard borders, they can even guard the coasts.”
It was not that women were not employed as permanent officers in the coast guard, additional solicitor general Vikramjeet Banerjee, appearing for the Centre along with senior advocate R Balasubramanian for Indian Coast Guard, told the court. “The petitioner is part of a stream where women short service appointment (SSA) cannot get the benefit of (permanent) absorption,” Banerjee said.
“This is patriarchal,” retorted the bench, also comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. “You don’t want to see the face of women in the coast guard.”
Making a pointed observation on how empowering women has been a key focus area of the central government, which has introduced a law that would reserve 33% of parliamentary seats for women, the bench remarked, “You talk of nari shakti (women’s power), now show it here. You are in deep end of the sea. In army and navy, you will have permanent commission, so what is so special about the coast guard that you will not have women?”
On February 12, the court had issued notice on a petition filed by Tyagi, who alleged discrimination in grant of a permanent commission vis-a-vis male counterparts. She had approached the top court after the Delhi high court on December 21 denied her interim relief while agreeing to hear her petition.
The petitioner was the lone woman in her batch seeking permanent absorption, said senior advocate Archana Pathak Dave, who appeared for Tyagi. “So far no woman SSA officer has been granted permanent absorption as coast guard rules do not permit woman SSAs to change to permanent entry scheme,” Dave said.
In the petition Tyagi said that till November 2009, there was no discrimination between women and male SSAs. On November 13, 2009, the Assistant Commandant Woman (General Duty) Short Service Recruitment Rules were published that mentioned “women officers shall not have the option to change over to permanent entry scheme.”
The petition relied on the past rulings by the Supreme Court paving equal opportunity for women short service commission officers in the army, navy and air force to be considered for permanent commission, and wondered why the same rule did not apply to the coast guard, also an armed force since 1978.
Last posted at Air Station Daman prior to her release, Tyagi was part of the first-ever all-women crew on Dornier aircraft in 2016 deployed in the eastern region for undertaking maritime patrolling as captain of the aircraft. She completed 13 months of flying training to qualify as a navigator. As on date, “the petitioner has 4,500 flying hours on Dornier aircraft, the highest flying hours as per her seniority in all the forces, including male and female, and has heroically saved over 300 lives at sea,” the petition said.
In 2021, on completion of 12 years in service, two of her superiors recommended her permanent absorption. However, their requests were turned down by the defence ministry, which cited the current rules in the matter.
After making several attempts to persuade higher officials by making multiple representations, on May 26, 2023, Tyagi got a letter conveying her release on December 30. She approached the Delhi high court in August to be absorbed in a permanent position.
She pointed out that the coast guard was recruiting retired short service commission navy officers as permanent duty officers, which showed the discrimination meted out to SSA women officers. She was allowed to take the mid-career professional examination that showed she was eligible for permanent absorption, Tyagi said in her petition.
