Supreme Court allows women to take NDA exam, raps Army for ‘gender discrimination
NEW DELHI: In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed women to take the National Defence Academy (NDA) exam scheduled for September 5th this year.
While passing its order, the apex court said that admissions will be subject to the final orders of the court.
The Supreme Court also came down heavily on the Indian Army for not allowing women to take part in NDA exams, Sainik Schools and other military institutions.
The top court said that while the Indian Navy and Air Force have already made provisions, the Indian Army still lags behind and chided its “regressive mindset”.
On the Indian Army’s submission that it’s a policy decision, the top court says that this policy decision is based on “gender discrimination”.
“Don’t do tokenism. Why do you need the judiciary to pass orders every time,” the Supreme Court said while slamming the Indian Army for not giving opportunities to women.
“You’re compelling the judiciary to keep on granting orders. It’s better that you (Army) structure it than inviting court orders. We are permitting the girls who have approached the court to sit for the NDA examination because we will be considering the larger issue,” the top court said.