New Delhi

The Delhi High Court has decided to pass Judgement on a batch of petitions challenging the Agnipath scheme launched for the recruitment of Agniveers for armed forces on February 27, 2023.

A Division bench headed by chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma also comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad is scheduled to pass judgment on Monday, as per the cause list.

On December 15, 2022, the bench kept the Judgement reserved after hearing arguments on behalf of different petitioners and the central government.

The court while keeping the order reserved had also asked the parties to file their written submissions, if any.

 During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati appeared for Central Government and submitted before the court that more than 10 lakh aspirants have been given the benefit of age relaxation. The Agnipath scheme is a major paradigm shift in the recruitment process of defense personnel. We can't put everything on the affidavit but we can say that we acted bonafide in the matter.

The central government has informed the Delhi High Court that no prejudice has been caused to any of the candidates who had participated in the earlier recruitment process.

It was further informed by the Central Govt that recruitment in the ' armed forces' stands on a completely different footing viz-a-viz employment in public offices, as it constitutes an essential sovereign function, which directly relates to the maintenance of national security.

Therefore, the Central Government in exercise of its sovereign power and to effectively and efficiently safeguard the security and integrity of the country is duly empowered to change the policy providing the mode and methods/service conditions of the persons who are to be employed in the armed forces, stated the affidavit.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared for one of the petitioners challenging the scheme and argued that the decision made by the government is arbitrary and unfair. There is no real reason behind the decision. He also argued that the candidates whose select list was out were made to keep on waiting for two and half years.

Earlier, the bench refused to put a stay on the Agnipath Scheme and said if petitioners get success in the case, they will get it. We will not pass any stay or interim order and will hear the case finally, added the bench.

On July 19, 2022, the Supreme Court had transferred various pleas related to Agnipath Scheme to Delhi High Court. The Supreme Court also clarified that as regards to other similar petitions challenging Agnipath Scheme pending in other various High Courts, the concerned HCs should either give an option to the petitioners to either have their petitions transferred to the Delhi HC or to keep their petitions pending with liberty to petitioners to intervene in Delhi High Court.

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The top court had also requested the Delhi HC to take up the matter and dispose of it expeditiously. High Courts of Delhi, Kerala, Punjab, and Haryana, Patna, and Uttarakhand are hearing matters connected to these schemes, noted SC.