Bikaner, Oct. 18 -- A physical test meant to assess fitness for a forest guard's job has landed Rajasthan's recruitment rules for women under fresh judicial scanner, with the Rajasthan high court seeking the state government's response to a challenge to mandatory chest measurements in the selection process. A bench of chief justice Sanjay K Agarwal and justice Baljinder Singh Sandhu, on Thursday, issued notices to the state chief secretary, the forest department secretary, the personnel department secretary and the RSSB secretary on a petition filed by Jyoti Sharma, a Bikaner resident, challenging the constitutional validity of the provision, which prescribes chest measurement and expansion requirements for women candidates. The petition challenges Rule 19(2)(a) of the Rajasthan Forest Subordinate Service Rules, 2015, which prescribes chest measurement and expansion requirements for women candidates. The petitioner has argued that the provision is arbitrary and unscientific and violates Articles 14, 16 and 21 of the Constitution. Advocates Amit Gaur and Bhawani Singh Tanwar, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the high court had previously questioned similar provisions on grounds of women's privacy and dignity. The high court "unequivocally condemned" the practice of prescribing minimum chest measurement criteria for female candidates, observing that such a requirement was "absolutely arbitrary, scientifically unfounded, and outrageously disruptive to a woman's dignity, privacy, and bodily autonomy guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India". It also questioned the scientific validity of the criterion and directed the chief secretary and the forest and personnel department secretaries to reconsider the rule, including by seeking expert opinion on alternative methods of assessing lung capacity. The court, however, dismissed the candidates' petition and did not strike down the rule. The division bench has issued notices to the respondents, seeking their stand on the challenge in a week....