Plea before Delhi High Court alleges gender disparity in Territorial Army officers' recruitment

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Central government on a plea challenging the policy allocating a substantially higher number of Territorial Army (TA) officer vacancies to men while restricting women candidates to a single seat [Kush Kalra v Union of India & Ors].

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia directed the government to file its reply to the plea.

The petition was filed by Kush Kalra, arguing that in recruitments since 2022, only one seat has been given to women in the Territorial Army.

It was stated that the 2022 recruitment had 12 vacancies for men and one for women, while the corresponding figures were 18 and one in 2023 and 2025. The 2026 recruitment provided 11 vacancies for men and one for women.

Kalra argued that this practice was violative of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution since the allocation effectively undermines the 2018 judgment of the High Court which paved the way for women's entry into the Territorial Army.

Kalra relied on the Court's judgment in Kush Kalra v Union of India, in which it was held that the expression “any person” under Section 6 of the Territorial Army Act, 1948 includes both men and women.

Despite the judgment, Kalra claimed that the Territorial Army continued to maintain separate and unequal vacancies.