Will consider granting permanent commission to women officers: Indian Coast Guard to SC
The Indian Coast Guard on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it will consider Short Service Appointee (SSA) officer Priyanka Tyagi and other similarly placed women for grant of permanent commission after receiving their vigilance clearance reports.
A permanent commission (PC) offers a lifelong career in the armed forces until retirement, in contrast to a Short Service Commission (SSC) that provides a fixed-tenure engagement of 10 to 14 years.
The top court, by separate verdicts, had earlier allowed grant of PC to women SSC officers in the Army, Air Force and Navy. On August 19, the top court had come down heavily on the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) for not granting permanent commission to a female officer, saying “we will not allow women officers to be humiliated”.
On Thursday, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was informed by Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the ICG and the Centre, that the force will proceed to consider granting PC after ascertaining the eligibility of Tyagi and other desirous women officers.
The top law officer said that before the selection committee proceeds with the issue, the ICG has to wait for the vigilance reports of the women officers concerned. The bench took note of the submissions of the Attorney General and asked the ICG to decide within two weeks, after getting the vigilance reports, on granting PC to Tyagi and others.
Earlier, it had termed the ICG policy on PC to women officers as “vague” and “arbitrary” and given two weeks to the ICG to take a call on the induction of officer Tyagi as a permanent commission officer or the court would pass orders for her absorption. “The policy is vague and appears to be arbitrary. The entire effort is to reject. Tomorrow you will say height is not correct and weight is not appropriate,” the bench had said, adding that “hyper-technical objections will not work”.
“If you can give permanent commission to males, then why not to women officers? We will not allow the women officers to be humiliated in this fashion,” the bench had said.
Tyagi, a SSA officer having completed more than 14 years in service, approached the court for grant of PC after being denied by authorities and instead being directed to be released from service.
The top court in 2024 directed the ICG to reinstate the officer, who was part of the first-ever all-women crew on a Dornier airplane deployed in the eastern region of the country for undertaking maritime patrolling as captain of the aircraft.
On April 8, 2024, observing that the judiciary has to be the “flag bearer” and march with the nation, the top court pulled up the ICG over the treatment meted out to Tyagi and ordered the maritime force to re-induct her.
Coming down hard on the ICG for resisting the grant of PC to women officers, the top court referred to its earlier verdicts on the grant of permanent commission to women officers in the Army, Air Force and Navy and said that the discrimination must end.
“We have to be the flag-bearers and march with the nation. Earlier, women could not join the bar, be fighter pilots,” it had said, adding that resistance to the move to attain gender equality has to go.
The top court directed the ICG to re-induct Tyagi to the post which she occupied on the date of discharge from service in 2023.
The apex court had transferred to itself the pending plea of Tyagi from the Delhi High Court as it disagreed with Venkataramani’s contention that comparing the ICG to the Army, Navy and the Air Force was misconceived.
