The Supreme Court has directed the reinstatement of a former Short Service Commissioned woman officer of the Indian Air Force who left service in 2013 and later became a war widow after her husband died in a MiG-21 fighter aircraft crash in 2021, as per an ANI report. The court exercised its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, which allows it to pass orders necessary to secure complete justice.
According to the ANI report, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant allowed an appeal filed by former IAF officer Squadron Leader Priyanka Saxena against orders passed by the Armed Forces Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi, in 2024. The Supreme Court directed that the matter be treated as a one-time case without being treated as a precedent, observing that the circumstances were "very peculiar".
