New Delhi: A “Public Interest Litigation” (PIL) petition filed in the Indian Supreme Court challenging the “Agnipath Scheme”, saying 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 petition filed by renowned advocate M.L. Sharma urged Indian 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”.
Mr. Sharma appealed that the Supreme Court had recently stepped in to ensure gender equality and protected the fundamental rights of women officers who sought permanent commission in the Army. The lawyer said the armed forces could not discriminate with a policy that dropped 75% of those inducted after four years’ service without even pension.
Mr. Sharma 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 protests and violence were by a large section of the youth who were staring at a “dark future” and who were against soldiering as a “contract job”. Web Desk
