India

Delhi High Court upholds Constitutional validity of Agnipath scheme

The Delhi High Court on Monday upheld the Constitutional validity of the Government’s new Agnipath short-term military recruitment scheme and maintained that it was formulated in “national interest.”

The court dismissed a bunch of pleas challenging the scheme, which triggered protests last year over its short tenure.

“This court does not find any reason to interfere with the scheme. All petitions challenging the Agnipath scheme are dismissed,” the court said.

A bench of chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad also dismissed pleas seeking resumption and enrolment under the previous recruitment scheme in defence services.

The Agnipath scheme was announced in June last year outlining rules for armed forces recruitment. Under the scheme, around 46,000 soldiers between the ages of 17.5 and 21 years, known as Agniveers will be recruited into the Army, Navy and Air Force for a period of four years on a short-term contractual basis. Later, the government extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment in 2022.

Recruitments have already taken place under the scheme.

IN Bureau

Recent Posts

Climate change, health risks escalate amid surge in PoGB deforestation

The intensifying cutting of trees for firewood in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) is not only worsening…

26 minutes ago

India’s retired judges, bureaucrats call for “immediate end” to attacks on minorities in open letter to Bangladesh

A group of retired judges, bureaucrats, Army officials and other civil society members have penned…

1 hour ago

Israel, Slovakia sign historic USD 582 million deal to boost Air Defense capabilities

Israel and Slovakia signed a 2 billion shekel (USD 582 million) agreement on Monday to…

1 hour ago

Pakistan: Protests continue in Kurram over road closures amid crisis

Protests against the prolonged road closures in Kurram persisted on Sunday, as residents held a…

2 hours ago

Sikyong Penpa Tsering successfully concludes key engagements in US, strengthening Tibetan cause

Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), has successfully concluded…

2 hours ago

World Uyghur Congress condemns Chinese sanctions against Uyghur, Tibetan organisations in Canada

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has strongly condemned the Chinese government's recent decision to impose…

3 hours ago