The Supreme Court ripped into the patriarchal mindset of the Indian Army when it ruled that all female officers were eligible for permanent commissions and command posts. “To cast aspersions on women based on gender is, in fact, an affront to the entire Army where men and women serve as equals,” it said. “It is deeply disturbing to deny grant of permanent commission to the female officers based on the stereotypes and deeply entrenched biases.”

Female officers will now be on par with males when it comes to promotions, benefits and pensions. Senior advocate Aishwarya Bhati, who represented the female officers in court, said that women can now be brigadiers, major generals or lieutenant generals.

“They will be judged not on their gender but on their individual merit, capability or suitability,” she said.

The ruling, however, is restricted to female officers in non-combat units - Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Army Air Defence, Electronic and Mechanical Engineers, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, Intelligence Corps, Judge Advocate General (JAG) and Army Education Corps (AEC). Female officers in combat arms - Infantry, Mechanised Infantry, Armoured Corps and Artillery - are still excluded.

The Army needs to take a look at service conditions for better integration and acceptance. But as Bhati said: “Foremost is the mindset. It has to be changed.”

In its submission to the Supreme Court, the legal branch of the Army and the defence ministry cited the physiological limitations of female officers, accentuated by challenges of motherhood and child care. It said that in the battle physical efficiency test, the excellent timing for men was 24 minutes and 40 seconds, while for women it was 31 minutes and 30 seconds, which was below the failed standard for men - 27 minutes and 30 seconds.

Bhati, however, said that future warfare will use a lot of artificial intelligence. “And, women are bound to play a more important role in future wars,” she said.

Agreed former Army chief Gen (retd) V.P. Malik: “With ever increasing technological developments in military weapons, equipment and conduct of warfare (including cyberspace and information warfare), I see female soldiers playing a more substantial role in the Indian armed forces in future.”

The induction of female officers in the Army started in 1992. Women were hired only for short service commission (SSC) and were trained for 24 weeks. Initially, the tenure was for five years, which was later extended to five more years. While male SSC officers could opt for permanent commission at the end of 10 years, female officers could not. They were, thus, kept out of any command appointments. Moreover, female officers did not get pension, as only officers with at least 20 years of service were eligible for the same.

In 2003, a petition was filed before the Delhi High Court to grant permanent commission to female SSC officers. In 2010, the High Court granted the same. But the Union government challenged the judgment and approached the Supreme Court.

The issue gained prominence in 2018 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day speech, said, “Women officers who have been selected through the SSC in our defence forces will now have the option to take up permanent commission.”

Subsequently, the government came out with an order in February 2019 for the grant of permanent commission to female officers in eight streams of the Army, in addition to the JAG and AEC, which had been opened up in 2008. But, the order did not offer any command appointments, and made it clear that female officers would serve only in staff (administrative) posts. A female officer who has served only in staff posts cannot go beyond the colonel rank - the rank at which competition for promotion begins in the Army.

Former military secretary Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain clarified that not every female officer would get a permanent commission as it is based on selection. The Military Secretary Branch, the human resource department of the Army, conducts a test - board No. 5 - and based on the confidential report, qualification and recommendation, an SSC officer is given permanent commission.

For the command post, said Hasnain, an applicant must first be a company commander and earn a minimum of two reports covering 20 months. If he or she qualifies, then they come up for the No. 3 selection board.

“In this board, the approval rate for male officers is just 30 per cent. However, it is 50 per cent in infantry or other combat arms,” he said. “I would recommend a review of the cadre to enhance the number of vacancies for the first promotion level, which is the rank of a colonel. Distribution of vacancies between the combat and support and service arms needs to be revisited.”

The Army, in its submission to the court, suggested that female officers not be deployed in combat zones owing to minimal facilities for habitat and hygiene. But the Supreme Court pointed out that almost 30 per cent of female officers are currently deployed in combat areas.

Maj Gen (retd) Nilendra Kumar, former JAG, the highest legal officer in the Indian Army, termed the Army’s arguments as short-sightedness coupled with male ego and narrow considerations for higher posts.

Former director general of military operations Lt Gen (retd) Vinod Bhatia, however, said that every transition takes time. “First, we should concentrate on giving them command in Army support areas, where acceptability is already there,” he said.

Former deputy chief of Army Lt Gen (retd) Mohinder Puri said that women should not be allowed in combat arms. “With limited physical limit, you cannot expect a lady at the height of 18,000 feet. We cannot risk their lives. Staying in bunkers, where there is no toilet facility, will be a tough call,” he said.

But as Bhati said: “With this ruling, we can have a woman as the chief of Army staff, as it opens the door for that. Though, it is a long way to go.”

This article first appeared in The Week.