The Delhi High Court on Friday, 5 December, made way for the recruitment of women in the Territorial Army (TA), ruling that any provision of the TA Act that bars or discriminates women transgresses the fundamental right to equality.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar gave the nod to recruitment of women in the TA, the second line of defence after the regular Army, saying "any person in section 6 of the TA Act, shall include both men and women".
TA comprises volunteers who get military training in order to be mobilised for the country's defence in case of an emergency.
The court's order came on a PIL filed by petitioner Kush Kalra, who alleged institutionalised discrimination against women for not being recruited in the TA.
Kalra had contended that the government has a duty to ensure that there is no discrimination practiced by anyone in the country and non-recruitment of female candidates who are gainfully employed is against the spirit of the Constitution.
The petition had sought that the provisions of the Act which prohibit the recruitment of women into the TA be either struck down or interpreted in such a manner that both sexes can join the organisation.
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