Allow Jawans Who Cleared UPSC To Quit And Join As Officer: Court To Air Force

In a case where the Indian Air Force officials were not allowing jawans who had cleared the UPSC civil services examinations and state level civil services exams, to quit service and join as a class I officer, the Armed Forces Tribunal has asked the IAF to let them leave and join the civil service within two weeks.

The Principal Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal headed by Justice Rajendra Menon also asked the Indian Air Force to change their rules and conditions for granting permission to air warriors for applying for grade A services exams outside the force.

The case was filed by Corporal Ayush Maurya and Sergeant Kuldeep Vibhuti through their counsel Ankur Chhibber as Maurya has cleared UPSC exams for 2021 while Vibhuti has cleared Bihar government's state-level exams.

In the plea, Mr Chhibber said his client had stated that he tried to apply online for permission but could not do so as only those personnel are allowed who have the 'A' category in the skill grade.

However, he went ahead with his exams and cleared them and was supposed to join the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in December last year.

However, after he filed an offline application, the No Objection Certificate was not granted by the IAF saying that the corporal had not sought prior permission for the civilian job.

In arguments, Mr Chhibber told the court that Delhi High Court has already struck down the requirement for having a Skill grade A for allowing personnel to apply for jobs in the civilian sector finding it unreasonable.

The military court said, "in view of the arguments, we find adequate merit in both pleas and the same is therefore allowed and we, therefore, allow the respondents to issue necessary NOC to both applicants within two weeks of this order. (B) Respondents to also issue necessary discharge order to both applicants to facilitate the applicants join the civil job.

The Indian Air Force should also review Air Force Order and issue necessary amendments to facilitate applicants applying for prior permission without Skill Grade "A"; and also modify the online application process to facilitate seeking of prior permission.