India, March 24 -- Supreme Court finds denial of permanent commission to women officers rooted in "systemic discrimination"

Judges say flawed evaluation processes and assumptions undermined women's career progression

Court orders one-time pension relief for some officers, but rules out reinstatement or notional promotions

The Supreme Court of India has ruled that women serving as Short Service Commission (SSC) officers cannot be denied permanent commission (PC) across the Army, Navy and Air Force, finding that the refusal was rooted in 'systemic discrimination'.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh held that the women SSC officers were evaluated on the basis of presumptions that undermined...