A public interest litigation (PIL) petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday challenging the Agnipath scheme, saying the recruitment to 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 advocate M.L. Sharma urged the Supreme Court to declare the scheme notification issued by the Ministry of Defence on June 14 as "illegal, unconstitutional and ultra vires" the Constitution.
"On June 14, contra to the constitutional provisions, without having approval in Parliament and without any gazette notification, the respondent (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 June 24, 2022," the petition said.
Mr. Sharma noted 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.
"After four years, of the total candidates selected for permanent commission in the Army, only 25% will be continued and the rest 75% will be retired. During the four years, they will be paid salary and perks. But after four years, these 75% candidates will get no pension, etc," Mr. Sharma said.
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", the petitioner said.
