Supreme Court Turns Down Plea For 50% Women Reservation In National Defence Academy

“The larger issue is being examined by us already. The opening for women candidates has to occur over a period of time. It is not possible to immediately have fifty per cent of the seats for women and this issue is already being examined by us. Thus, though we have sympathy for the petitioner, in the present scenario it is not possible for us to give any relief.”

The National Defence Academy is a premier joint services training institution for cadets of the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force that was established in 1954. More than 66 years after its birth, women were finally allowed admission into the academy owing to an interim order passed by the apex court. In August 2021, a bench headed by Justice Kaul soundly rejected the centre’s argument that the restriction against women was a matter of policy and permitted women to take the NDA recruitment examination. Before this landmark ruling, only male candidates between the ages of sixteen-and-a-half and nineteen years who had successfully completed higher secondary education, could apply for the examination.

In September of the same year, the bench affirmed its earlier ruling by rejecting defence ministry’s plea to postpone induction of women into the academy. The ministry had sought time till May 2002 to allow women to take the recruitment examination. Declining this prayer, the bench had observed said, “It would be difficult for us to accept such a position, the aspirations of the women candidates having arisen in view of the orders we had passed, albeit, subject to the final orders. The Armed Services of India have dealt with very difficult situations on the border and in the country and acquitted themselves admirably. To deal with the emergencies is a part of their training. We are sure that training would come in handy to deal with this “emergency”, if it is so perceived for the larger gender neutral issues which cannot be postponed.”

The NDA examination is conducted by the Union Public Services Commission twice a year – NDA-I in the first half of the year, and NDA-II in the second. In November 2021, despite an overwhelming response from women candidates, only 19 women were admitted into the academy. This, the centre, had justified, was due to the lack of adequate infrastructure in the Pune-based institution. Again, in January, after the release of a notification indicating that only 19 women would be recruited from NDA-I examination of 2022 as well, the apex court sought the centre’s response. The bench observed, “Nineteen seats cannot be for all times to come. It was only an ad hoc measure.” Additional Solicitor-General for India, Aishwarya Bhati had sought to justify the decision to limit the intake of successful women candidates to 19 by saying, “The aspect of intake is not just connected to infrastructure in the academy but also the requirement of forces.”

The larger question, as pointed out by the bench in this case, is currently pending before the top court in Kush Kalra v. Union of India & Ors. [Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1416 of 2020]. However, under the existing structure, each course at the academy has 370 vacancies for the three services. Of these, 208 cadets get commissioned to the Indian Army, 120 to the Indian Air Force, and 42 to the Indian Navy. The intake of women cadets is currently limited to 19 per batch, which is why the petitioner was not selected, even though she allegedly received more marks than some of her male counterparts.

While categorically declining relief to the aspirant, the bench agreed to list the petition along with the matter already pending before the court. Accordingly, the bench pronounced, “It is submitted that the listing of this petition with the aforementioned matter would only give an opportunity to the petitioner to assist the court. List along with it.”

Case Title

Nidhi Chaudhary v. Union of India & Anr. | Writ Petition (Civil) No. 33 of 2023

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