Punjab & Haryana High Court asks Centre to respond to plea to use gender-inclusive terms instead of "ex-servicemen"

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday sought the response of the Central government to a plea to replace terms such as "ex-serviceman" with more gender inclusive terms [Captain Sukhjit Pal Kaur Sanewal (Retired) v Union of India]..Acting Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Nidhi Gupta issued notice to Central government in the matter.The plea has been filed by former Captain Sukhjit Pal Kaur Sanewal, one of the Indian Army's earliest woman officers. She has called for replacing the term "ex-serviceman" with gender-neutral and inclusive alternatives such as "ex-service members" or "ex-service personnel.".Captain Sanewal highlighted that women have been integral to the Indian Army, serving as nurses and doctors in the initial years and later in various arms and services since the 1990s. Women have even held command appointments, she noted. Despite this, all former army officers are still consistently referred to as "ex-service man" or "ex-service men" in government policies and schemes.Captain Sanewal argued that this practice not only leads to mis-gendering but also appears outdated and reinforces gender stereotypes..“While much progress has been made in opening up military roles for women, the continued use of gendered language remains a significant, yet easy to remove stumbling block, to a more inclusive environment in the defence services. The Petitioner is obviously not a man, and is a woman, hence there should be no occasion to call the Petitioner or any other women officer an 'Ex-Serviceman.' Yet, the Identity Card of the Petitioner addresses her with the male gender, which is incongruous," the petition said..The use of words ‘men’ or ‘man’ in the titles such as "ex-serviceman’" or "ex-servicemen" is discriminatory, outdated, against the very principle of equality and ultimately against the Constitution of India, the plea added.It further contended that gender equality is not just about employing more women but understanding how gender operates at various levels, including by using gender-inclusive language..Advocates Navdeep Singh, Apoorva Pushkarna and Akanksha Duvedi represented the petitioner, Captain Sanewal.Additional Solicitor General Sat Pal Jain and Advocate Shivani represented the Union government.