NEW DELHI, JANUARY 31,
2022
New Delhi: The Supreme
Court on Monday restrained the Centre and Navy from releasing from services
some officers (both male and female), who were not granted a permanent
commission and sought reply from the Centre.
A bench of Justices DY
Chandrachud and Surya Kant asked Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain and
senior advocate R Balasubramanian to have a re-look into the grievances of a
batch of naval officers, of which some of them have been released from
services.
"Having regard to
the fact that some of the officers are due for release on February 2, we direct
that the officers who are already in service shall not be released pending
further orders of this court", the bench directed.
During the hearing, the
bench observed, "Some of them (naval officers) are short of pensionable
services by a year or two. Those who have been released from service can be
considered for pension".
The bench issued notice
to the Centre and Navy and sought its response in four weeks on the batch of
pleas filed by the short service commission naval officers, who were not
considered for the Permanent Commission (PC).
Mr Jain, who accepted
notice, said that he would have a re-look in each case and file a detailed
counter-affidavit.
Senior advocates CU
Singh, Huzefa Ahmadi, Meenakshi Arora, and other advocates appearing for the
Naval officers contended that the vacancy position which has been computed by
the naval authorities is not in accordance with the directions of this court in
the final judgement in Commander Annie Nagaraja case (2020 verdict).
The lawyers submitted
that the vacancies which were spread over 15 years have been substantially
reduced as a result of which officers who would otherwise be eligible for the
grant of the permanent commission have not been granted the PC.
They contended that the
proceedings of the selection board were tendered before the Armed Force
Tribunal (AFT) on the last date of hearing and the officers had no opportunity
to controvert the contents.