New Delhi, October 4, 2026 — Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal A. P. Singh has confirmed that former officer and war widow Priyanka Saxena will be trained and reinstated as a Squadron Leader, in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions.
Speaking on Saturday, the Chief of the Air Staff said the force would implement the judgment. “The (Supreme) court judgement has come. We have to follow the orders. We have been told to give her training after doing her medical test. She will be trained, especially the soldier part of the training. In her branch also, she will be trained. Thereafter, she will be reinstated as a Squadron Leader on the court orders as 11th year of her service. She will be a short-service commissioned officer,” he said.
Service and the 2021 crash
Priyanka Saxena was commissioned into the Indian Air Force in December 2003 as a Short Service Commissioned officer in the Logistics Branch. She completed her ten-year tenure and was released in December 2013, having chosen not to seek an extension or Permanent Commission on account of family commitments, including support to her husband, a fighter pilot, and care of their child.
She later married Wing Commander Harshit Sinha of 51 Squadron, Srinagar. On 24 December 2021, Wing Commander Sinha was killed when his MiG-21 Bison crashed near Jaisalmer Airfield. The couple have two minor daughters.
Legal path to reinstatement
After her husband’s death, Saxena sought re-induction under policies applicable to war widows, or Veer Naris, citing her decade of prior service. The request was not accepted, including on the ground that she had crossed the age limit of 35 years applicable to war-widow induction. The Armed Forces Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi, in orders dated 18 May 2023 and 2 July 2024, directed the government to consider a policy for women Short Service Commissioned officers who later become widows, but did not grant her personal relief.
A Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana set aside those orders and, invoking Article 142 of the Constitution, directed her re-induction. The Court held that the case was peculiar and was to be treated as a single instance without creating a precedent. It observed that she was eligible on two counts as a former Air Force officer and as the war widow of an Air Force officer and that her past service “ought to have been given weightage.”
It also recorded that she need not undergo the fresh pre-commission training required of other war widows inducted on academic qualifications alone. During the hearing, the Court remarked that her late husband’s contributions to the nation could not be ignored.
Conditions of return
Under the order, Saxena must first clear the prescribed medical requirements and complete one year of refresher training in the next applicable course, during which she will be governed by the rules applicable to trainees. On successful completion, she will be reinstated as a Squadron Leader in the eleventh year of service, with her earlier service counted.
She will continue as a Short Service Commissioned officer and receive a four-year extension in accordance with policy. Her inter-se seniority will be fixed with her current peer group, and she will be considered for Permanent Commission and promotion under the rules applicable to that group.
The Chief’s statement confirms that the Indian Air Force will proceed on those terms: medical examination, branch and service training, and reinstatement as a Squadron Leader and Short Service Commissioned officer in the eleventh year of service.
