Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 27: The Delhi High Court on Monday upheld the constitutional validity of the government’s military recruitment scheme Agnipath, saying it does not find any reason to interfere with the scheme.
“The Agnipath scheme was introduced in the national interest and to ensure that the armed forces are better equipped,” the court said.
A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad announced the judgment.
There were at least 23 petitions filed challenging the scheme and all the petitions were dismissed by the court. The Supreme Court last year refused to entertain a fresh petition filed by an advocate seeking an investigation into the protests that followed after the introduction of the Centre’s Agnipath scheme.
Protests broke out in several parts of the country after the government rolled out the Agnipath scheme due to its shorter tenure and fewer benefits it offers. The scheme proposes to induct the youth temporarily into the defence forces for a span of four years and they will be known as Agniveers.
After four years, out of the selected candidates, only 25 per cent will be absorbed into regular armed forces service while the rest will be retired. Later, the government extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment in 2022.
Several petitions were filed in high courts across the country challenging the scheme and also to halt the recruitment processes. The Supreme Court later transferred all these matters to the Delhi HC.
On December 15 last year, Delhi High Court reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas challenging the Centre’s Agnipath Scheme and seeking resumption and enrolment per the previous recruitment scheme in defence services.
The central government told the court in October that recruitment in the military is an essential sovereign function, keeping national security in mind. It argued Agnipath is a “tailor-made scheme” which has been formulated after comprehensive discussions by experts to serve the needs of the nation and change warfare.
