The Supreme Court has batted in favour of women getting a larger share of employment in public sector holding that economic empowerment alone held the key to end inequality faced by women in India.
The Court was provoked to think in this direction after it was confronted with a case from Chhattisgarh where a woman Government servant failed to be selected as a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) due to overage despite clearing the test on merit and interview of Chhattisgarh.
The petitioner, Richa Mishra sought relaxation under the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Special Provision for appointment of Women) Rules 1997 that provided for a 10 year age relaxation for candidates employed with State Government. Mishra was already employed as sub-inspector with Excise Department of the state when she applied for the post of DSP in 2007.
Ruling in her favour, the bench of Justices AK Sikri and Abhay Manohar Sapre agreed that the 1997 Rules had a salutary purpose that of empowering women and giving them relaxation of age to enable their economic empowerment. Chhattisgarh Government, however, argued that the 1997 Rules will not be applicable to Mishra as appointment for DSP was governed by the Chhattisgarh Police Executive (Gazetted) Service Recruitment and Promotion Rules 2000, under which she will not be eligible.
The Court found that age was the only criteria blocking the prospects for the petitioner to realise her dream of serving in the police. She was ranked 54th in the merit list and was called for interview on this basis. Those below her in merit got selected. In this context, the bench decided to relax the age and directed the state to appoint her as DSP from the relevant date in 2007. She will be entitled to seniority and pay benefits commensurate with the date of her appointment.
Commenting on the Constitutional status of women being equal to men, the bench said, “In reality they have yet to go a long way to achieve this Constitutional status.” In the past equal opportunity to women was aimed at their social well-being. “Now the focus is shifted to economic empowerment…it is now realised there is a bidirectional relationship between economic development and women’s empowerment”.
Thus, the bench concluded that empowering women equips them to be “economically independent, self-reliant, with positive esteem to enable them face any situation and that they should participate in developmental activities.”