The Supreme Court has ruled that women Short Service Commission (SSC) officers of the Army, Navy and Air Force, who were discharged after 14 years of service, are entitled to retirement benefits, with relief provided through a one-time procedure.
The bench held that officers who were considered for permanent commission but were rejected would be deemed to have completed 20 years of eligible service for the purpose of retirement.
Under current service rules, officers must complete 20 years to qualify for pension. The court invoked its extraordinary powers to extend the relief as a one-time relief.
The court ruled that those still in service would be entitled to a permanent commission subject to grades obtained, medical standards, alertness and disciplinary clearance.
The ruling came on the basis of petitions filed by women officers of the Indian Air Force, including Wing Commander Sucheta Edhan, who had challenged the denial of permanent commission under the policy changes introduced in 2019.
The court found flaws in the Air Force’s policy
The court said the performance standards introduced under the 2019 Human Resources Policy were applied without giving officers a fair opportunity to meet them.
It noted that the applicants, who were appointed under the Short Service Commission in 2007, were considered for the standing committee in the selection boards held in 2019, 2020 and 2021 but were released from service in 2021.
According to the court, minimum performance standards first introduced in 2019 were implemented without giving officers reasonable time to adapt to the new standards before the first selection board convened.
The bench also said that the “length of service criteria” used in the evaluation should not be treated as a factor indicating inappropriateness of the permanent commission when the officers were never given a proper opportunity to evaluate career progression.
Pension as a one-time relief
The Court ordered that all Short Service Commission officers selected for the Standing Committee on Selection Boards for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 will be deemed to have completed 20 years of eligible service and will be entitled to pension and other subsequent benefits.
The benefit will also extend to officers who were considered during such selection boards but were declared ineligible.
However, the court made it clear that they would not receive wage arrears.
The pension will be calculated based on completion of 20 years of service, and will come into effect from November 1, 2025.
