Frame policy to allow widowed short service officers to re-join Armed Forces, AFT tells defence ministry
Vijay Mohan
Chandigarh, May 29
The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has asked the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to examine the necessity of having a policy to grant relaxation to short service commission women officers who have been widowed after their release from service to enable them to re-join the defence services.
The relaxation in age being sought would be on the same lines as that provided to other widows of armed forces personnel who have died in harness.
A woman Squadron Leader, who was commissioned into the Logistics Branch in 2003 and was released from service in 2013 after he did not opt for permanent commission due to domestic reasons. She had lost her husband, a fighter pilot, in a flying accident in 2021, leaving with two small daughters.
In 2022, she submitted several applications to the IAF, requesting that she be reinstated in service considering that she has already served for 10 years, but these were rejected. It was also her case that similar relaxation for commission has been granted to other widows on compassionate grounds, but has been denied to her.
Relaxation up to the age of 35 years is granted to widows of defence personnel who die in harness for being considered for grant of commission. In this case the petitioner was already 40 years. The Tribunal was also told that there have been four cases similar to the petition where they were denied re-entry.
She sought that a class of widows of defence personnel like her, who had earlier served in the Armed Forces be granted an additional relaxation in the age criteria to permit them to seek a second entry in the Armed Forces.
Pointing out that the central government has already stipulated an age concession for ex-servicemen in Group A and Group B posts but not ready to grant similar concession to a class of defence widows like her, she averred that with more women entering the Armed Forces, it was incumbent from the central government to examine this emerging trend and make suitable amendments to the relevant policies to cater to this class of aspirants.
“The fact remains that such officers who are released after 10 or 14 years are a trained pool of officers who can still contribute to the organisation if given an opportunity to re-enter the services and also it is an opportunity to rehabilitate our Veer Naris,” the Tribunal’s bench comprising Justice Anjana Mishra and Lt Gen PM Hariz, observed.
The bench also pointed out that presently this class of women officers do not have a policy under which they can seek consideration for re-entry into the services due to compelling circumstances.
“We are, therefore, of the considered opinion that the respondents need to examine and establish the necessity, or otherwise of a policy to cater for the class of women officers who are similarly placed to the petitioner,” the Bench ruled.
Asking the central government to review the policy of 2017 on age relaxation to widows to make it inclusive for this class of women officers, the Bench remarked, ”The respondents could also review the mode of induction in such cases and also examine whether a separate pre-induction training would suffice in place of regular pre-commission training as being done currently.”
