Women’s induction to NDA cannot be postponed: SC

 

 

 

OBSERVING that induction of women to the NDA cannot be postponed by one year, the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed female candidates to take the exam in November this year and not wait till May 2022 as requested by the Government. Refusing to accept the Centre’s request to allow women candidates to appear for the National Defence Academy (NDA) entrance from next year, the apex court said that it doesn’t want women to be denied their right. The Centre had told the top court that a notification allowing women candidates to appear for the entrance exam to the National Defence Academy will be out by May next year.

 

A bench headed by Justice S K Kaul said that the Armed Forces are the best response team to deal with emergency situations and it is hopeful that necessary arrangements will be put in place to pave the way for the induction of women in NDA without delay. It said, the needful should be done by the defence department in collaboration with the UPSC. The top court noted that the submissions made by senior advocate Chinmoy Pradip Sharma, appearing on behalf of the petitioner Kush Kalra, and said that it cannot postpone the induction of women by one year. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati submitted that a study group has been formed to facilitate the entry of women, and the necessary mechanism to facilitate that can be put in place by May 2022. The ASG sought skipping the next NDA examination, scheduled to be held on November 14. “We appreciate your problems.

 

I’m sure you people are capable of finding solutions. Let us see the results. The planning can go on. It is difficult for us to accept this submission from the Centre in view of the aspirations of the candidates willing to take the exam. “Armed services have dealt with very difficult situations. To deal with emergencies is a part of their training. We are sure that they will be able to come at par with this “emergency too”. We would thus not like to vacate the order effectively passed by us,” the bench also comprising Justice B R Gavai said.