AFT restores seniority of woman IAF officer who challenged ‘pick and choose policy’

Sangeetha was inducted in the IAF in the year 2000 as a Short Service Commissioned officer and was released in 2011 without being granted permanent commission. She moved the Tribunal in 2017 challenging her release from service and challenged the human resource policy of IAF pertaining to the year 2011.

She sought that she should be granted permanent commission in terms of the earlier HR policy dated September 2004 vide which male officers were granted permanent commission and HR policy dated November 2010 for grant of permanent commission to SSC woman officers, which had been framed consequent to the judgment dated of the Delhi High Court in
March 2010.

Her petition was upheld by the Tribunal in 2019 and the 2011 order rejecting her claim for permanent commission was set aside. Her case was to be reconsidered as per the new HR policies and in case she was found eligible for grant of permanent commission she was to be reinstated in service subject to the condition that pay and allowances for the period in which she had not been in service would not be payable.

The officer had contended in her petition that while she was reinstated in the IAF in 2020, her absence from service has illegally and arbitrarily been considered as a break in service by the IAF. She contended that this was done despite the fact that the AFT order said that only the payment of the pay and allowances during the period that she was not in service was not to be included but that she was entitled to other consequential reliefs including her seniority and continuation of service.

Sangeetha filed a representation with the IAF authorities against the status of break in service but this was rejected in February 2022.

She contended that she cannot be deprived of her rightful seniority at par with her batchmates and that the wrongful action of the respondents has lead to a situation of even denying her pensionary benefits.

The officer also submitted that her coursemate was reinstated in service in similar conditions and was granted seniority as well as promotion alongwith her batchmates but the respondents have considered the period during which
the applicant was not in service as break in service and have fixed her seniority with a course much junior despite the fact that the discharge of the applicant was due to wrong application of the HR policy.

The AFT principal bench of Lt Gen PK Hariz (retd) and Justice Anu Malhotra set aside the IAF orders and directed that the petitioner should be given notional promotion and her seniority should be fixed with similarly situation batchmates.