Women can now join NDA, Centre tells Supreme Court

The government, however, informed the apex court that it will require some time to frame the guidelines for women candidates' inclusion into the armed forces.

"We are extremely glad to know that the armed forces themselves took the decision to induct women into the NDA. We know that reforms cannot happen in a day... The government will place timelines of the process and the course of action," the Supreme Court said, reported NDTV.

The top court was hearing a petition for allowing the entry of women into NDA and Naval Academy exams.

It asked the government to submit its reply by September 20.

"The armed forces play an important role... but need to do more for gender equality in the forces. We want them to take a proactive approach themselves in ensuring gender equality rather than waiting for courts to intervene," said a bench of Justice SK Kaul and Justice MM Sundresh, according to the report.

The development comes less than a month after the Supreme Court, in an interim order, said women candidates can sit for the NDA examination, which has been rescheduled for November 14.

According to the report, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati informed the court today: "It is a delight to share this. Women will be admitted in the NDA. We will place a detailed affidavit. On June 24, the exam was postponed to November this year. Please grant status quo in these exams as this needs procedure and infrastructural changes."

On August 18, hearing the petition filed by Kush Kalra seeking apex court's directive to allow women to sit for the NDA entrance exam, the court said the Army's “policy decision" amounted to gender discrimination.

Mint had reported that the Bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Hrishikesh Roy had expressed their displeasure and said:  "It's a policy decision which is based on gender discrimination. We direct the Centre and Army to take a constructive view of the matter..."

The court had ruled that women can sit in the NDA exams on September 5 but the admission would be subject to the outcome of the petition.

The petitioners had said blocking the eligible women candidates from joining NDA, Articles 14, 15, 16 and 19 of the Constitution of India are violated.

The court observed that "Eligible and willing female candidates are not allowed to take the said examination (of NDA and Naval Academy) on the sole ground of their sex…and this act of discrimination is a dishonour committed by the respondents to the Constitutional values of equality (Article 14); Article 16 (equal opportunities in matters of public employment); Article 19 (freedom to practice a profession), and non-discrimination (Article 15) in the Constitution of India", according to the Mint report.

In response, the Centre had said: “Women are being granted equal opportunity in the armed forces in the avenues that have been opened up for employment of women. There is no violation of any fundamental right merely on account of the mode of entries available to men and women to join the armed forces."

The Additional Solicitor General had told the court there are three modes of entry in the Army- NDA, Indian Military Academy (IMA) and Officers' Training Academy (OTA) and that women are permitted entry through OTA and IMA.

"And even if it is a matter of policy, you are allowing women's entry through two sources. Why should you say the one more additional source of entry is closed for women? It is not just a gender principle but discriminatory otherwise also," the SC said, the report stated.

The court had said that it hoped that the interim order would persuade the army to bring about the changes to include women in the armed forces of its own accord rather than under pressure to do so because of a directive from the judiciary.