Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 26: The Supreme Court on Monday took the Centre to task for talking of “Nari Shakti” but not implementing it in practice.
“Women cannot be left out,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud said while asking the Central government to ensure that eligible women officers get permanent commission in the Indian Coast Guard. He further said if the government did not do so, the Supreme Court would take the necessary steps.
“All these functionality etc argument does not hold water in 2024. Women cannot be left out. If you do not do it, we will do it. So take a look at that,” the CJI told the Centre’s counsel, Attorney General R Venkataramani. The Centre’s counsel said he would ask the Coast Guard to file an affidavit.
The Supreme Court bench led by CJI Chandrachud was hearing the plea of Priyanka Tyagi, a woman officer in the Coast Guard, who was seeking permanent commission to eligible women short-service commission officers of the force. Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra were also part of the Bench, which took note of submissions by Attorney General R Venkataramani that there were some functional and operational difficulties in granting permanent commissions.
In response to the Attorney General’s statement that a Board has been set up by the ICG to look into the issues, the Court said that women must be on the board.
The court set March 1 as the date for the next hearing. The petition in the matter has been filed by a woman officer of the Coast Guard. It seeks permanent commission for eligible women officers joining the force under short service commission. The Attorney General has argued that the Coast Guard was different from the Navy and Army.
The court had questioned the “patriarchal” mindset opposing induction of women into the force. “You have women in the Navy, so what’s special about the Coast Guard. We will open up the whole canvas. Gone are the days when we said that women cannot be a part of the Coast Guard,” the Chief Justice had said.
The Centre was pulled up during the previous hearing in the matter on February 19. The Chief Justice had then asked why there was an “indifference” with regard to the Coast Guard. “Why don’t you want women in the Coast Guard? If women can guard the borders, they can also guard the beaches. You talk about Nari Shakti, show it here,” he had said.
The petitioner, Priyanka Tyagi, had earlier approached the Delhi High Court, but did not get relief. In her petition, she has pointed to the Supreme Court judgments on permanent commission for women in the Army and Navy.
Earlier, the bench had said that the maritime force must come up with a policy which treats women “fairly.”
It had also asked whether the Union was still adopting “a patriarchal approach” despite the judgments of the top court on the grant of permanent commission to women officers in the three armed forces – Army, Air Force and the Navy.