Why can’t Army deploy women officers to counter terror, insurgency in times of emergency, SC asks in a judgment

The Supreme Court on Monday (August 11, 2025) asked why the Army cannot deploy women officers to counter terror and insurgency in an emergency if other Armed Forces like the Air Force sent women behind enemy lines in jets, choppers and parachutes.

The question came in a judgment pronounced by a Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan, which struck down a policy of the Army restricting the appointment of women officers to the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch. The women candidates were represented by Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan.

The Bench said a policy bifurcating candidates on the basis of gender and reserving more posts for men did not meet the standards of law.

The judgment authored by Justice Manmohan clarified that the court was not imposing its views on the Army, but implementing the Constitution and the mandate of law. “No nation can be secure when half of its population [i.e. its women force] is held back,” Justice Manmohan observed.

It directed the Union government to publish a common merit list for all JAG candidates, men and women, and make the marks public.

The apex court dismissed the Union government’s argument that the JAG branch consisted of “exclusively combatant personnel” as they were a reserve for mobilisation. The court said this contention ran contrary to the right of women to form part of all combat support arms services. It further violated the right of women to be treated as equals in all aspects of their employment in the Army. Besides, the court noted that with a strength of over 1.4 million active, 2.1 million reserve and 1.3 million paramilitary personnel compared to just 285 JAG officers, it would be an extreme stretch to claim that women ought to be excluded, as there may be JAG deployment in times of war.

The court said the Centre’s argument that women officers were not deployed for counterinsurgency or in counter-terror forces as they were “not expected to discharge the role of combatants in case of armed conflicts” had no legislative sanction or basis.

Justice Manmohan said there was no restriction in other Armed Forces on the appointment of women in combat posts. The Air Force has continually opened new combat air force roles for women as fighter pilots, helicopter pilots, etc.

“When women officers like Captain Ojaswita Shree of the elite Parachute Air Defence Unit, Major Dwipannita Kalita of highly specialised airborne medical unit of the Army and Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh (pilot of Rafale jet) of the Air Force can operate behind enemy lines with all expected risks, why women officers in times of emergency cannot be deployed for counter-insurgency or in counter-terror forces or attached to infantry/artillery units,” the apex court questioned.

The court reasoned that if women officers could be entrusted with complex tasks such as transporting convoys of 30 to 50 vehicles through militant-prone areas in Leh, Srinagar, Udhampur and the North-East, why cannot they be relied on in operational areas.

“For instance, Major Gopika Bhatti commanded a convoy from Leh to Pathankot in 2010, overseeing junior commissioned officers and jawans, managing logistics, arms, and ammunition. Women officers like Colonel Anshu Jamwal have been actively involved in UN Peacekeeping missions since 2004, serving in combat zones like Syria, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Congo and Israel, further illustrating their capability to perform in high-risk, operational environments,” Justice Manmohan observed.

“This court understands that people always fear change. But as Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, famously said, ‘People feared electricity when it was invented. Didn’t they?” Justice Manmohan wrote.