The Delhi High Court on Friday questioned the Centre’s policy to bar married persons from recruitment into the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch of the Army, asking how the marital status affected an individual’s ability to become an officer.
A Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice C. Hari Shankar issued notices to the Ministry of Defence and the Directorate General of Recruiting of the Army seeking their stand on the issue.
“What is the reasonableness of such a policy? Prima facie we are satisfied that what the petitioner is saying is correct. The armed forces cannot behave like this. We are unable to digest this,” the Bench remarked.
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In his petition, advocate Kush Kalra questioned the basis for barring married persons from joining JAG when marital status was not an eligibility criteria for the “equally ranked” judiciary and the Indian Civil Services. The petition termed as “institutionalised discrimination” the restriction on married individuals from being considered for JAG, the legal arm of the Army.
“This discrimination on grounds of marriage is violative of the fundamental right to equality before law, equality of opportunity in matters of public employment, right to practice any profession and occupation, human rights of women and right to live with dignity,” the plea has said.
The plea also contended that when the legal age of marriage in India was 18 years and 21 years for women and men respectively, there was no justification for making marital status an eligibility criteria.
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It also sought that the Special Army Instructions of 1992 and 2017, which disentitle married women and men, respectively, from applying for JAG be declared void.
The court posted the case for further hearing on November 19.