NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought response from the Centre on a plea challenging the policy allocating a substantially higher number of Territorial Army (TA) officer vacancies to men while restricting women candidates to a single seat.
A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia directed the government to file its reply to the plea that alleged that there was a practice of reserving a higher number of vacancies for male candidates and only one seat for women in the recruitment process.
“The 2022 recruitment had 12 vacancies for men and one for women, while the corresponding figures were 18 and one in 2023, and 2025. The 2026 recruitment provided 11 vacancies for men and one for women,” the petition, filed by Kush Kalra, claimed.
It argued that this practice was violative of various fundamental rights granted under the Constitution, including equality before the law. It alleged that the practice “effectively undermines the 2018 judgment of the High Court which paved the way for women's entry into the Territorial Army.”
“Despite the judgment, the Territorial Army continued to maintain separate and unequal vacancies,” it added.
The petition has sought to declare the practice allegedly adopted by the respondents as “violative” of the Constitution.
“Allowing women entry into the Territorial Army was only half a measure. The respondents, notwithstanding this court's declaration of law, continued to maintain a practice of reserving 12 to 18 vacancies for male candidates while allocating only 1 vacancy for female candidates in each successive recruitment cycle from 2022 to 2026. Such tokenism perpetuates the very constitutional wrong that this court sought to remedy,” it said.
The plea has sought “full and effective implementation of the High Court's 2018 judgment” as authorities, by reserving a single vacancy for women, “have not only violated the Constitution but also effectively tried to negate the court's verdict”.
