The Delhi high court.
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Monday dismissed a batch of pleas challenging the newly announced Agnipath scheme for recruitment of the Agniveers in the defence forces, stating that the scheme has been made in national interest and to ensure that the armed forces are better equipped.
In June 2022, the defence ministry announced unveiling of the Agnipath scheme with laying out rules for the recruitment of youths in the forces. In this scheme, youths in the age group of 17-and-a-half and 21 years can apply for the job, and would be inducted for a four-year tenure with a fixed remuneration. The scheme allows 25 per cent of them to be granted regular service subsequently.
After the scheme was unveiled, protests erupted in several states against the scheme.
Hearing a batch of petition challenging the scheme, a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad today said, "The scheme is made in the national interest and to ensure that armed forces are better equipped."
While passing the judgment, the bench also said there was no reason to interfere with the Agnipath recruitment scheme. The court also dismissed petitions relating to recruitment process for the armed forces under certain previous advertisements while clarifying that such candidates do not have a right to seek recruitment.
The court had reserved its verdict on the batch of pleas on December 15 last year.
