Ashish Ranjan
HC Rejects Petitions against Agnipath Scheme: The Delhi High Court upheld the constitutionality of the government’s military recruitment programme Agnipath, finding no reason to intervene with the programme.The court stated that the Agnipath programme was implemented in the national interest and to better equip the military.
The decision was announced by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad.At least 23 petitions were lodged challenging the scheme, and all of them were rejected by the court. Last year, the Supreme Court rejected a new petition filed by an advocate requesting an investigation into the disturbances that followed the introduction of the government’s Agnipath scheme.
As a result of the Agnipath program’s shortened duration and fewer benefits, protests erupted in a number of regions of the country following its implementation. The programme proposes to temporarily enlist adolescents in the armed forces for four years, during which time they will be known as Agniveers.
After four years, only 25 percent of the selected candidates will be absorbed into the conventional service of the armed forces, with the remainder retiring. Later, the government raised the upper age limit for recruitment in 2022 to 23 years.
Multiple petitions were filed in high courts across the nation to challenge the programme and suspend the recruitment processes. Later, the Supreme Court transferred all of these cases to the Delhi High Court.
On December 15, 2012, the Delhi High Court reserved its decision on a group of petitions challenging the Centre’s Agnipath Scheme and seeking resumption and enrollment in accordance with the previous recruitment scheme for the defence services.
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In October, the central government informed the court that military recruitment is an essential sovereign function with regard to national security. It was argued that Agnipath is a “tailor-made scheme” that has been developed by experts in response to the nation’s requirements and the evolution of warfare.
