Row over promotion: SC asks Army officers to wait for govt move

Indian Army Service Corps is a corps and an arm of the Indian Army which handles its logistic support functions. A bench comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and R Banumathi asked over 100 lieutenant colonels and majors, who have filed the plea in this regard, to wait for the government’s decision and posted the matter for hearing after a month. 

The apex court was hearing the plea by these army officers who have contended that the service corps officers were deployed in operational areas and faced challenges similar to those of the combat armed corps. 

“The action of the army and the government in selectively treating officers of services corps as ‘operational’ for deployment in operational areas, but ‘non-operational’ for the purpose of being considered for promotion is violating the fundamental rights of the petitioners and other middle level army officers,” the petition said. 

“This act of Army and Union government (discrimination in promotion) has created tremendous injustice to the petitioners and others which is detrimental to the morale of the officers and, in turn, to the defence of the country,” it said. They have challenged the “selective” treatment of service corps officers as ‘operational’ when the need arises and relegating them to ‘non-operational’ when it concerned promotions. 

It has sought directions to the government and the Army “to uphold the law that the combat services are an integral and operational arm of the regular Indian Army and to treat combat services at par with the other corps of regular Army”.