Fire Brigade jobs: Women candidates cannot suffer due to discrimination in height norms, says Bombay HC
The Court passed an interim order directing PMC to allow petitioners to participate in the selection process and they should not be disqualified on the ground of height norms
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The court said that while it was not banning bursting of firecrackers, it was for state government to consider measures in view of earlier judgements of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Supreme Court on the same. However, some limit has to be put in place, the bench said. (File) The Bombay High Court recently said different municipal corporations adhering to different height criterion for women candidates for the post of firepersons was discriminatory in nature.
The bench, while hearing a plea by four women participating in the process of selection to the post of fire extinguisher/ fireman (woman) under Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), noted that there cannot be different benchmarks for different corporations and that women candidates cannot suffer due to such arbitrary policy or any arbitrary approval.
A division bench of Justice Girish S Kulkarni and Jitendra S Jain on October 26 was informed by advocate A S Rao for the petitioner that as per the corporations, they are being discriminated on the grounds that they did not comply with height norms implemented by the civic body which required women candidates to be eligible for participating in the selection process to have a height of 162 centimetres.
Rao argued that while the Maharashtra Fire Brigade Service Administration, had notified a minimum height of 157 centimetres for the women candidates for said post, Municipal Corporations of Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur require minimum height of 162 centimetres and same was discriminatory to the petitioners. He said several other civic bodies in the state are following the norm of 157 centimetres.
The bench in its order noted, “In our opinion, prima facie case has been made out by the petitioners of an apparent discrimination. There cannot be different benchmarks for different corporations. Women candidates cannot suffer due to any arbitrary policy or any arbitrary approval of any such norms by the State Government, which discriminates between women candidates who are similarly situated.”
The Court passed an interim order directing PMC to allow petitioners to participate in the selection process and they should not be disqualified on the ground of height norms
“This shall however be subject to final orders which would be passed on the present proceedings,” it clarified. Seeking affidavits in reply by state government and PMC to the plea, the bench posted further hearing to November 9.
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