In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court has upheld the right of Short Service Commission (SSC) officers from the Military Nursing Service (MNS) to be recognised as ex-servicemen, ensuring their eligibility for re-employment benefits such as reservation in government jobs, central public sector undertakings (PSUs), and nationalised banks.
A bench comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra dismissed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging a 2023 Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment. The high court had directed the Punjab government to appoint Captain Gurpreet Kaur, an MNS officer who had cleared for the Punjab Civil Services (PCS) with notional seniority.
Though Captain Kaur had cleared the Punjab Civil Services exam in 2021, she was denied selection on the grounds that she was not an ex-serviceman. Aggrieved, Captain Kaur approached the High Court in May 2022.
In its judgment, authored by then acting Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Aman Chaudhary, the high court observed that MNS constitutes an “Armed Force of the Union” and that the Punjab Ex-Servicemen (ESM) Rules explicitly include Short Service Commissioned officers released with gratuity. The court also observed that the state’s statutory provisions could not be overridden by central guidelines, including a 2019 circular from the Kendriya Sainik Board, which had denied ex-servicemen status to MNS personnel, despite earlier recognition by the central government.
The Kendriya Sainik Board’s 2019 circular had led to confusion among state recruitment bodies, resulting in the rejection of many deserving candidates and triggering legal challenges from many affected officers. Subsequently, Irwan Kour, a former officer of the Army Medical Corps and a serving PCS officer, contested the high court verdict before the Supreme Court in December 2024. Kour contended that Captain Gurpreet’s appointment might compromise her own standing within the service and argued that MNS personnel should not be categorised as ex-servicemen.
However, the SC has dismissed the case filed by Irwan Kour and upheld the right of MNS officers to be treated as ESM. The SC has also held that the MNS is an integral part of the military and the Armed Forces.
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