The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to accept the Centre's request to allow women candidates to appear for the entrance exam to the NDA from next year. The top court said it doesn't want women to be denied their right and their induction cannot be postponed by one year.
The Centre had told the top court that a notification allowing women candidates to appear for the entrance exam to the National Defence Academy will be out by May next year.
The "no exam today, exam tomorrow" approach would go against the aspirations of young women, the court said, directing a notification for exams on November 14.
A bench headed by Justice SK Kaul said the armed forces are the best response team to deal with emergency situations and it is hopeful that necessary arrangements will be put in place to pave the way for the induction of women in NDA without delay.
It said the needful should be done by the defence department in collaboration with the UPSC.
Earlier this month, the government had told the Supreme Court women could now sit for the NDA entrance exam.
This was after the court underlined a "mindset problem" and "gender discrimination" when it came to equal service opportunities for men and women in the country's armed forces.