Delhi High Court upholds Agnipath scheme for recruitment in Indian Armed forces

The High Court of Delhi on Monday upheld the constitutional validity of the Agnipath scheme, which was introduced by the Central government in June last year, for recruitment in Indian Armed Forces.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad dismissed a bunch of petitions challenging the Central scheme on the grounds that it was introduced in national interest, to ensure that the armed forces of the country were better equipped to meet any eventuality.

The High Court dismissed the five petitions challenging the recruitment scheme, observing that the advertisements regarding the Agnipath scheme did not create any legitimate expectation for recruitment

Total 23 petitions were filed in the High Court against the Agnipath scheme. The other 18 pleas, which sought halt on recruitment processes and appointment as per previous recruitment scheme, have also been dismissed.

The petitioners were represented by Advocates Prashant Bhushan, Ankur Chibber, Kumud Lata Das, Manoj Singh, Harsh Ajay Singh, Manohar Lal Sharma and others.

Additional Solicitor Generals (ASGs) Aishwarya Bhati and Chetan Sharma, along with CGSCs Anurag Ahluwalia, Harish Vaidyanathan and Kirtiman Singh, appeared for the Central government.

Earlier, the High Court had reserved its verdict in the matter on December 15, 2022.

The petitioners had claimed that Agnipath scheme came into picture only in June, 2021. The Union government soon after decided to put all other recruitment processes on hold, they added.

Appearing for the Central government, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati contended that the scheme was finalised only in June, 2022, when it was notified in the Official Gazette.

She said Agnipath was one of the biggest policy changes in defence recruitment, which would prove to be a paradigm shift in the way the Armed Forces recruited personnel.

The ASG further said that more than 10 lakh aspirants had taken advantage of the two-year age relaxation given by the Union of India.

Representing one of the petitioners, Advocate Prashant Bhushan contended that the government did not stop all recruitment in June, 2021 and that some of the recruitment processes were held even in August, 2021 and February, 2022.

Earlier, the Government of India had filed a consolidated reply to the petitions, stating that Agnipath was introduced to make the forces young and that the recruits who exited after their tenure, would prove to be nationalist, disciplined and skilled.

The government had also said that an analysis of the existing structure of ‘below officer’ rank divisions in Indian Armed forces showed that the average age of a personnel was 32 years, while globally, it was only around 26 years.

The Armed Forces’ retention policy under which a jawan, sailor or airman served between 15 to 20 years, was the main reason for it, noted the reply filed by the Union government.

(Case title: Harsh Ajay Singh vs Union of India and Ors)

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