In a landmark interim order the Supreme Court on Wednesday said women can sit for the NDA (National Defence Academy) admission exam scheduled next for September 5 –
The order from the apex court will likely allow more women to serve in India's armed forces.
The court slammed a "mindset problem" when it comes to equal service opportunities as it warned the government to change. A division bench also expressed displeasure over women being denied equal opportunities despite its other verdicts on the matter.
It further stated that that Army’s policy decision “is based on gender discrimination,”. It pulled up the Indian Army for its discriminatory policies and questioned why ‘co-education’ was a problem.
The government had however argued that its recruitment policy was not discriminatory and that there were a wide number of ways in which women could apply. The Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that women cannot claim violation of any fundamental right for being denied entry at the National Defence Academy or the Indian Naval Academy