“The composition of rank and file being male, and predominantly drawn from rural background, with prevailing societal norms, the troops are not yet mentally schooled to accept women officers in command,” the Centre said in an affidavit that essentially justifies sexism in official policy.
Maintaining that male and female officers could not be treated equally when it came to postings because of their different physical standards, the Centre also cited greater family demands, the perils of women being taken as prisoners of war and reservations about over-exposing women officers to combat situations to oppose the plea.
Addressing a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Ajay Rastogi, senior advocate R. Balasubramanian and lawyer Neela Gokhale said that inducting women to command posts would change the dynamics of the armed forces.
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