Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, July 19: As a result of the growing number of arguments in the case, the Supreme Court on Tuesday transferred petitions contesting the Agnipath military recruiting scheme to the Delhi High Court.
The High Courts may also decide to keep the applications pending, according to the judgement of the bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, AS Bopanna, and Surya Kant.
“We are of the view that the three writ petitions instituted before this court should be transferred to the Delhi HC and renumbered as petitions under Article 226…the High Courts shall furnish an option to the petitioners to either have their pleas transferred to Delhi High Court or the High Courts shall keep the petitions pending and with liberty to the petitioner to move the Delhi HC and intervene in the similar proceedings,” the order states.
The Agnipath Scheme, which aims to enlist youth in the Army for four years, is being contested in petitions before the court. One of the petitions, submitted by Attorney ML Sharma, requested for the cancellation of the Ministry of Defence announcement that announced the programme on June 14, 2022.
Petitioners opposing recruitment to the armed forces under the Agnipath Scheme are scheduled to have their cases heard by the Delhi High Court.
According to Sharma’s petition before the Supreme Court, under the Agniveer Scheme, only 25% of the candidates who were chosen would remain in the Indian Army after four years, with the remaining candidates being either retired or denied employment in the armed forces.
Sharma said that the Scheme was imposed without the consent of Parliament or a gazette notification, which resulted in widespread demonstrations all over the nation.
