Wing Commander Pooja Thakur manages to secure stay order on eviction from govt accommodation

Once the poster girl for rising woman power in the Indian Armed Forces, Wing Commander Pooja Thakur has been struggling to hold on to her government accommodation even while her battle for permanent commission into Indian Air Force carries on simultaneously.

Thakur, who turned heads by leading the guard of honour for former US president Barack Obama in January 2015, was served a notice to vacate her government accommodation in southwest Delhi but managed to secure a stay order on the eviction last Monday.

"The eviction proceedings taken against the officer shall be kept in abeyance and she should be allowed to continue in her present accommodation on usual terms till the disposal of her case (seeking reinstatement into services)," an Armed Forces Tribunal bench headed by Justice Babu Mathew said.

IAF officials, who did not wish to be named, said the force had no role in the eviction notice as Thakur's accommodation came under central government pool.

The officials said as per the rule, IAF officers are supposed to vacate their houses after retirement and due process must have been followed by the authorities concerned at the ministry of defence.

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The military court has asked defence ministry's joint secretary (training) and chief administrative officer for taking necessary action and implementing its order.

Defence ministry officials declined comment, saying they were not aware of the details of the case.

While Thakur and her counsel declined to speak to Mail today in relation to the judgment or eviction notice as the matter is sub-judice, sources in the IAF said the officer was allotted a government accommodation from the Air Force quota in New Delhi's Dwarka residential cluster. In September, 2016, soon after her short service commission tenure ended, Thakur was served an eviction notice.

The officer approached the tribunal, where her counsel Major SS Pandey contended that she be allowed to retain her house till her case for getting reinstated into the force was decided. The military court ruled in her favour and ordered the government to stay the eviction process.

Thakur, arguably the most widely known face in the Air Force due to the famous 2015 event, is engaged in a legal battle with IAF since July 2016 against denial of a permanent commission like her other counterparts.

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Permanent commission allows a woman officer get an opportunity to rise to the rank of lieutenant general and retire at 60 with full benefits that the men officers get.

The officer in her petition stated that the IAF decision was "biased, discriminatory, arbitrary and unreasonable". Over a month after filing the case, Thakur's tenure came to an end and she retired with her case still pending for final decision.

The IAF stand in the court was that Thakur had rejected to be absorbed earlier and cannot be given a choice again. This has been challenged by her counsel, who said, "At that time, her personal situation was such that she could not decide and that is why she requested the Air Force to change her option. They denied it to her and that is why we have filed a petition."

Stressing that Thakur was entitled to a permanent commission, her counsel submitted: "The Air Force has on the basis of a policy stated that she is not entitled for permanent commission. The policy is their own local policy as the government did not give any decision about it. They did not offer her permanent commission in 2006 which they should have, but when the High Court passed the order in 2010 they offered her the same."

Thakur was the first woman officer to lead an Inter-Service Guard of Honour when Obama visited India as the chief guest for the 2015 Republic Day parade.ALSO READ|Wing Commander Pooja Thakur who led Obama's Guard of Honour say first we are officers then women