ItemArticle

Women in security services: a (post)feminist reading of Lt Col Nitisha v Union of India

Title
Women in security services: a (post)feminist reading of Lt Col Nitisha v Union of India
Creator
Shukla, Anshuman; Mukherjee, Sayan; Ray, Ipsita
Description
The role of women in Indian security services was debated in the recent judgement, Lt Col Nitisha v Union of India. The Supreme Court invalidated the impugned selection criteria and their retrospective application upon female staff as instances of indirect discrimination. This case note identifies three major implications regarding the gendered nature of the debate. Firstly, the Courts findings reveal that the government adopted certain strategic modes of postfeminist governmentality to utilize the discourse of women empowerment for departmental ends. Secondly, popular readings of the judgement risk being reduced to postfeminist cultural sensibilities, which romanticize individualistic agency and manufacture isolated struggling heroes to eventually dull the cross-sectoral feminist solidarity. Lastly, the Courts progressive doctrinal turn still construed women officials as mere employees-beneficiaries mostly claiming careerist interests. It abandoned any holistic appraisal of the role of women in military service, thereby articulating an impoverished account of female agency, dignity, and personhood. 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis.
Source
Indian Law Review;Volume;9;Issue;3;pp.367-385
Date
01-01-2025
Publisher
Routledge
Subject
dignity rights; Ethics of care; feminist solidarity; indirect discrimination; military and security services; postfeminism; realism
Coverage
Shukla A., Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India; Mukherjee S., Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India; Ray I., School of Law, Christ University, Bangalore, India
Rights
Restricted Access; Hardcopy may be available in the library
Relation
ISSN: 24730580;
Format
online
Language
English
Type
Article

Citation

Shukla, Anshuman; Mukherjee, Sayan; Ray, Ipsita, “Women in security services: a (post)feminist reading of Lt Col Nitisha v Union of India,” CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) Institutional Repository, accessed June 18, 2026, https://archives.christuniversity.in/items/show/22793.

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