Nearly 15 years after Wing Commander Namrita Chandi (retd) left the Indian Air Force, the Armed Forces Tribunal’s Chandigarh Bench at Chandimandir has directed that she receive pension and other retirement benefits on the basis of 20 years of pensionable service. The order modifies the Tribunal’s 2015 judgment in a long-running dispute over her denial of Permanent Commission.
The Bench, comprising Justice Sudhir Mittal and Lieutenant General (Dr) Ranbir Singh (retd), held that Wing Commander Chandi is to be deemed to have completed the required 20 years of pensionable service. Her pension is to begin on the day immediately after the date she completed 20 years of service, with the consequential retirement benefits applicable to an officer with that qualifying service.
Supreme Court rulings on women SSC officers
In reaching its decision, the Tribunal considered Supreme Court rulings on women Short Service Commission (SSC) officers who had sought Permanent Commission. These included the case of Lt Cdr Annie Nagaraja and others, as well as proceedings concerning women officers who had not been considered for Permanent Commission.
The AFT noted that SSC officers who opted for Permanent Commission but instead received extensions were entitled to consideration on a par with male SSC officers. It also referred to the Supreme Court’s directions covering women officers who had approached the Court and retired while the proceedings were under way.
Under the directions in the Annie Nagaraja case, women officers who had been denied consideration for Permanent Commission and were no longer serving were to be treated as having completed the requisite substantive pensionable service. They were entitled to pensionary benefits, while other consequential benefits remained subject to the Supreme Court’s directions.
Service history and legal proceedings
Wing Commander Chandi received a Short Service Commission in the Indian Air Force in 1996, initially for 10 years. Before completing that tenure, she applied for Permanent Commission. She was instead given a five-year extension, and her request was later rejected on the ground that the rules at the time did not provide for Permanent Commission for SSC officers in the flying branch.
She retired in 2011 and challenged the denial through a writ petition in the Delhi High Court. The case was transferred to the Principal Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal in 2014. The following year, the AFT allowed her petition along with a batch of similar cases, relying on the Delhi High Court judgment in Babita Puniya and Others versus The Secretary and Another.
Defence authorities appealed the Tribunal’s decision to the Supreme Court. The appeal was dismissed in 2019, upholding the legal position on which relief for women SSC officers had been based.
After the Supreme Court proceedings, Wing Commander Chandi served a legal notice seeking implementation of the directions. The Air Force authorities told her that the competent authority had decided to consider her suitability for Permanent Commission. An independent board of officers was formed, and she was asked to report for a medical examination on July 22, 2020, if she was willing to accept the offer.
She objected to assessment under the parameters in the 2004 and 2010 policies, particularly because she had been out of service for nine years. In the latest proceedings, her counsel, Sandeep Bansal, argued that she was entitled to pension calculated on 20 years of service and the associated retirement benefits. He sought modification of the 2015 judgment, citing Supreme Court rulings concerning women officers in the Army and Navy, including Babita Puniya and Annie Nagaraja.
The Tribunal rejected the Union of India’s request for an adjournment on the ground that the paper book was unavailable. It observed that the Supreme Court’s orders were well known and that the legal position established by those judgments left no ambiguity about the entitlement of eligible women SSC officers.
The latest order therefore directs that Wing Commander Chandi be treated as having completed 20 years of pensionable service and receive the corresponding pension and retirement benefits.
