New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that women can appear in the entrance examination of the National Defense Academy (NDA). A division bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy on Wednesday passed the interim order in a petition filed by Kush Kalra. In the petition, there was a demand to allow women candidates to appear in the NDA exam. It has been said in the petition that not allowing women to appear in the examination is a violation of Articles 14, 15, 16, and 19 of the Constitution of India. The petition said that the authorities allow unmarried male candidates who have passed the Class XII examination to appear in the National Defense Academy and Naval Academy examinations but do not allow eligible and willing female candidates to appear for the examination on the basis of gender only. In this, no proper reasons are also given under the constitution.
Deprived of taking exams on the basis of gender- Petition
In the court, the petitioner’s side was presented by Senior Advocate Chinmay Pradeep Sharma along with Advocates Mohit Paul, Sunaina, and Irfan Haseeb. It has been said in the petition that the opportunity of admission to the National Defense Academy is being denied to the deserving and interested women candidates on the basis of their gender.
The petition said that women candidates pursuing a 10+2 level of education are denied the opportunity to appear for the National Defense Academy and Naval Academy examinations on the basis of their gender. As a result, there is no way for eligible female candidates to get admission while male candidates having similar education get an opportunity to take the exam. After being found eligible, he joins the NDA.
The petition also said that non-training of women in the National Defense Academy and denial of appointment as Permanent Commissioned Officers in the country’s armed forces on the basis of gender alone is violative of the fundamental right and under the purview of the Indian Constitution.
