New Delhi, June 22, 2022 (PPI-OT):A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition was filed in the Indian Supreme Court challenging “Agnipath”, the recently announced recruitment scheme for Indian armed forces. The petition filed by advocate M.L. Sharma urged the Supreme Court to declare the scheme notification issued by the Ministry of Defence on 14 June as “illegal, unconstitutional and ultra vires” the Constitution.

The petition said, “On 14 June, contra to the constitutional provisions, without having approval in Parliament and without any gazette notification, government quashed century-old Army selection process and imposed the Agnipath Scheme for recruitment in all three armed forces divisions and declared to start it from 24 June 2022”.

The petition said, “After four years, of the total candidates selected for permanent commission in the Army, only 25% will be continue and the rest 75% will become retired. During the four years, they will be paid salary and perks. But after four years, these 75% candidates will get no pension, etc.” The petition said permanent commission meant service till retirement. The petitioner said the armed forces could not discriminate with a policy that dropped 75% of those inducted after four years’ service without even pension.

The petition maintained that the recruitment in the armed forces under the scheme will cause “serious injury” to citizens, the institution of the armed forces and the country as a whole The Indian government’s Agnipath scheme evoked strong protests and violence by a large section of the youth.

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