Govt should implement SC decision on women Army officers in 'letter and spirit': CPI(M)

The government had opposed the move to give permanent commission and command positions to women officers in the Army but now they should implement the Supreme Court order on it both in "letter and spirit", the CPI(M) said on Tuesday.

In a landmark verdict, the apex court on Monday directed that women officers in the Army be granted permanent commission and command postings, rejecting the Centre's stand of their physiological limitations as being based on "sex stereotypes" and "gender discrimination against women".

"We welcome the Supreme Court judgment which brings women at par with men in the Army, without impinging on our national security.Government opposed this progressive move in the court but must now implement it fully, both in letter and in spirit," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said in a tweet.

Slamming the Centre, the Supreme Court said despite no stay on the 2010 Delhi High Court verdict allowing grant of permanent commission to women officers, the government showed scant regard in implementing the directive in the past one decade.

The bench said it is of the opinion that physiological features of women have no effect in granting permanent commission and they have to be given equal opportunity at par with their male counterparts in the armed forces.

It said the Centre's submission of physiological limitation is based on flawed notions and there is no constitutional basis to deny them equal opportunity.