New Delhi, 23 September (H.S.): The Delhi High Court has sought the Centre’s response to a petition challenging the alleged practice of reserving a significantly higher number of vacancies for male candidates while limiting women candidates to a single post during the recruitment of officers in the Territorial Army.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya issued notice to the Central government while hearing the petition, which alleges gender discrimination in the recruitment process.

The petition has been filed by Kush Kalra. It states that between 2022 and 2026, the authorities reserved between 12 and 18 positions for male candidates in each recruitment cycle for Territorial Army officers, while offering only one position to women candidates.

According to the petition, the practice of earmarking substantially more vacancies for men and restricting women candidates to a single vacancy is contrary to constitutional principles. It further contends that the practice is inconsistent with a 2018 Delhi High Court ruling that paved the way for women to join the Territorial Army and held the then-existing practice of recruiting only men to be unconstitutional.

The petition refers to the 2018 judgment, which held that the expression “any person” under Section 6 of the Territorial Army Act encompasses both men and women.

It has sought the full and effective implementation of the 2018 judgment, alleging that limiting women to a single vacancy not only violates constitutional guarantees but also undermines the effect of the court’s earlier ruling.

The court’s notice seeks the Centre’s response to the issues raised in the petition. Further proceedings will determine how the recruitment policy is examined in light of the legal and constitutional questions raised by the petitioner.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar