The Delhi High Court on Friday ordered the Centre to reach a decision within eight weeks regarding a plea advocating for allowing women to join the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force through the Combined Defence Services (CDS) examinations.
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora closed the petition filed by advocate Kush Kalra, with a direction to the Defence Ministry to decide on his representation “in accordance with law” in eight weeks.
Mr. Kalra had made a representation before the Central government on December 22, 2023 to allow women to take the CDS exam, but no response was received.
The plea, filed through advocate Jyotika Kalra, said that there are two examinations conducted by the Ministry of Defence for recruitment of candidates into the Indian Military Academy (IMA), the Indian Naval Academy (INA) and the Air Force Academy (AFA). One is the National Defence Academy (NDA) examination for candidates who have passed Class XII and the other is the CDS examination for graduates.
The recruitment of women candidates was not allowed either through the NDA examination or through the CDS examination until August 2021. Ms. Kalra said that following a nudge from the Supreme Court, the armed services themselves took a decision for the induction of women into the NDA. In the first NDA written examination held in December 2021, there were just 19 seats for female candidates.
Now as the Ministry of Defence has removed its entry barrier for women through the NDA examination and women candidates are being recruited with the number of vacancies increasing every year, there is no reason to justify why women are not recruited through the CDS examination, Ms. Kalra said.
The exclusion of eligible women from the opportunity to get training at the premier training institutes of armed forces becomes a hurdle in the career advancement opportunities for women officers, she added.
