New Delhi:

Thirty-nine women Army officers have got Permanent Commission after winning a legal battle in the Supreme Court, which ordered the government to ensure their new service status is granted within seven working days.

A Permanent Commission means a career in the army till retirement, while Short Service Commission is for 10 years, with the option of either leaving or opting for Permanent Commission at the end of 10 years. If an officer doesn’t get Permanent Commission then, the officer can choose a four-year extension.

A total of 71 women Short Service Commission officers, who were denied Permanent Commission, had gone to the Supreme Court seeking Permanent Commission.

The centre told the court that of the 71 officers, 39 were found eligible for Permanent Commission, seven were medically unfit and 25 had “issues of discipline”.

The Supreme Court then directed the centre to give a detailed report explaining the reasons why the 25 were not eligible for Permanent Commission.

On October 1, the court had told the government not to relieve any of the officers from service.

A two-judge bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice BV Nagarathna, who is in line to become the first woman Chief Justice of India, was hearing the matter.

Senior lawyers V Mohana, Huzefa Ahmadi and Meenakshi Arora – representing the women officers – had told the court that their disqualification was against the Supreme Court’s judgment in March, when it directed the Indian Army to grant Permanent Commission to all women Short Service Commission officers who met the criteria.

The government was given three months to complete this process.

The army’s evaluation criteria for granting Permanent Commission to women officers were “systematically discriminated against them”, the Supreme Court had said at the time.