Women can join NDA, Centre informs Supreme Court

The Union government on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that it has decided to induct women too, in the Pune-based National Defence Academy (NDA). The Centre's submission in the top court came as a 2-judge bench took up a plea seeking directions for necessary steps to be taken to allow eligible female candidates to appear in the upcoming NDA examination, which is scheduled to be held on November 14.

The Centre, however, also sought an exemption from allowing women candidates for this year's paper.

On this, the bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul directed the government to put on record a detailed affidavit by September 20, mentioning details such as steps being mulled, timeline etc. The next hearing in the case will take place on September 22, it announced.

Wednesday's developments come in the backdrop of interim directions passed by the same bench on August 18, in which it said that girls can also appear for the NDA exam. "The policy that restricts their entry into the elite institution is based on gender discrimination," the court said.

In doing so, it rejected Centre's arguments that women not being allowed at the NDA does not violate any fundamental right as male cadets trained at the academy do not enjoy any advantage in future career prospects over women who, at present, can join the Army only on short service commission (SSC) through the Combined Defence Services (CDS) exam.