Only 10 pc vacancies for women in Dental Corps discriminatory, allow more to participate in selection process: SC to Army
Vijay Mohan
Chandigarh, April 14
Ruling that fixing only 10 per cent seats for women candidates in recruitment to the Army Dental Corps (ADC) is discriminatory and prejudicial to meritorious candidates, the Supreme Court has directed the defence services to allow more number of women candidates to participate in the selection process.
“Prima facie, we find that depriving the highly meritorious female candidates from participating in the selection process is putting the clock in reverse direction. Leave aside giving preferential treatment to the female as envisaged under Article 15 of the Constitution of India, the stand of the respondent-Union of India is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, in as much as it deprives a meritorious female to compete and permits much less meritorious male to participate in the selection process,” the Apex Court’s Bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Aravind Kumar said in an interim order on April 11.
Several women candidates, including those from Punjab, had initially moved the High Courts against the move of the defence services to reserve 90 per cent vacancies in the ADC for male candidates. The matter thereafter reached the Supreme Court.
The Bench observed that whereas the male candidates who have rank till 2,394 are permitted to participate in the selection process, in so far as the female candidates are concerned, the cut-off rank is 235.
The central government had averred that only 10 per cent seats were reserved for female candidates in the selection process on the grounds of various exigencies which are peculiar to the defence services.
“We find that an anomalous situation has arisen due to such a stand. Whereas a male candidate who is 10 times less meritorious than a female candidate is permitted to appear in the selection process, a female candidate who is 10 times meritorious than a male candidate is deprived from participating in the selection process,” the Bench said.
The Bench was hearing an SLP filed against an order of the Delhi High Court that had vacated a ‘status quo’ ordered by it earlier on the ADC recruitment results on account of gender discrimination averred by the candidates.
While ordering the continuance of the status quo initially, the SC has now also ordered the conduct of the interviews of the left-out women candidates who had petitioned the High Court.
After the central government expressed its willingness to conduct the interviews of the present petitioners, whose ranking in the NEET (MDS) – 2022 is much below 235, within two weeks, the Bench directed that the result of the petitioners’ interview along with the results of the interview of the other candidates be placed before it when the case comes up for hearing next. “Needless to state that after the interview of the petitioners are conducted, the respondent would be free to declare the results,” the Bench ruled.
The litigation in Delhi High Court and now the Supreme Court comes close on the heels of a bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court comprising Justices GS Sandhawalia and Jagmohan Bansal taking cognizance of gender discrimination in the ADC where a petitioner, Dr Satbir Kaur, had averred that out of 30 total vacancies, the Army has reserved 27 seats for men and left only three for women.
It had been averred that recruitment in ADC, which is permissible up to the age of 45 years, was gender-neutral till the last batch and such recruitment could not be made amenable to reservation for men which is impermissible under Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had then directed that the petitioner should be interviewed provisionally and the results of the recruitment shall remain subject to the outcome of the petition.
