The Delhi High Court has directed the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Centre to appoint a woman candidate in one of the 20 unfilled flying branch vacancies, emphasising that gender distinctions cannot dictate opportunities in the armed forces.
A bench of Justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla passed the order on August 25 while hearing a plea filed by a woman candidate who sought her appointment against one of the unfilled posts. The petitioner was placed seventh in the women’s merit list after two candidates were appointed against the only two earmarked vacancies for women.
Of the 92 flying branch vacancies advertised by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on May 17, 2023, 70 were filled by male candidates and two by female candidates, leaving 20 posts vacant. The court noted that the recruitment notification never stated that 90 vacancies were exclusively reserved for men and only two for women.
“The construction being placed by the respondents … is untenable. The notice does not state that 90 vacancies were reserved for male candidates and two were reserved for female candidates,” the bench observed.
The judges underscored that in modern times, discrimination based on gender in the armed forces or elsewhere is impermissible. “We are, mercifully, no longer in those times in which discrimination could be made between male and female candidates so far as entry into the Armed Forces is concerned,” the court remarked.
Directing the IAF to appoint the petitioner forthwith, the court said she would be entitled to all service benefits, including seniority, at par with the already selected 70 male and two female candidates.
The bench stressed that the only requirement for selection was a valid “Fit to Fly” certificate, which the petitioner possessed. “Only 70 male candidates qualified. 20 vacancies are, therefore, going abegging,” it added, ruling that eligible women should be considered to fill the posts.
The verdict referred to Supreme Court rulings on gender neutrality and reiterated that no advertisement or notification could be interpreted in a gender-skewed manner. The distinction between male and female, the judges noted, had been reduced to “nothing more than a chance chromosomal circumstance.”
“It is time, to adopt a somewhat pedestrian adage, that one woke up and smelt the coffee,” the court concluded, making it clear that the unfilled vacancies could not be left vacant when qualified women candidates were available.
