Court case(1981) 4 SCC 335

Under Air India's service regulations an air hostess retired at 35, or on marriage if it took place within four years of joining, or on first pregnancy, whichever occurred first; the Managing Director could extend service in his discretion up to 45. Male assistant flight pursers, doing comparable work, retired at 58. Air hostesses challenged the regulations as discriminatory on the ground of sex and arbitrary.

Fazal Ali J held that air hostesses and flight pursers formed separate classes with different recruitment, qualifications and promotional avenues, so differential conditions were not per se discrimination under Articles 14 or 16; the discrimination was not 'only' on the ground of sex and Article 15(1) was not attracted. The bar on marriage within four years was upheld as a reasonable measure for family planning and stability. But the termination on first pregnancy was struck down as 'extremely detestable and abhorrent', an 'open insult to Indian womanhood' and manifestly arbitrary: it compelled a woman not to have a baby if she wished to keep her job. The Managing Director's uncontrolled discretion to extend service up to 45 was also arbitrary and void; the regulation was read so that service continued to 45 subject to medical fitness.