The Delhi high court on Thursday reserved its judgment on a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces.
Besides the pleas directly challenging Agnipath, the high court also reserved its verdict on petitions concerning the recruitment announced under certain previous advertisements but stalled before the launch of the short-term service scheme.
During the arguments, the Centre told the high court that a decision was taken in June 2021 to put on hold all other recruitment in the armed forces and not to cancel them as the Agnipath scheme was only on the horizon and not finalised by then.
The Agnipath scheme got finalised only in June this year when it was notified in the official gazette, the Centre's counsel said.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad asked the counsel for the petitioners and the Centre to file written submissions by December 23, after which the court will close for vacation.
The bench also granted time to the Centre to file an affidavit on the aspect of role, responsibility and duties of Agniveers, the soldiers who will be recruited under the Agnipath scheme.
The Agnipath scheme, unveiled on June 14, lays out rules for the recruitment of youths in the armed forces.
According to these rules, those aged between 17 years and a half and 21 years are eligible to apply and the recruitment will be for a four-year tenure. The scheme allows 25 per cent of them to be retained and granted regular service subsequently depending upon their fitness.
After protests erupted against the scheme in several states, the government extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment in 2022 to calm the frayed tempers.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati and central government standing counsel Harish Vaidyanathan, representing the Centre, said the Agnipath scheme is one of the biggest policy changes in defence recruitment that was going to mark a paradigm shift in the way the armed forces recruit personnel.
Bhati said the government had taken a conscious decision to put on hold everything where recruitment had not happened.
"More than 10 lakh aspirants have taken advantage of the two-year age relaxation given by us... A lot of things we cannot say on affidavit but we have acted in a bona fide manner," the ASG said.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners in a plea concerning cancellation of the recruitment processes under certain previous advertisements, said the government did not stop all recruitment in June 2021 and some such exercises were held even in August 2021 and the beginning of 2022.
”Look at the plight of these people. Is it fair to tell them you have put your life on hold for over two-and-a half-years and now you are told the recruitment process has been cancelled. It would be arbitrary, unfair and hit by the doctrine of legitimate expectation to allow the government to go away like this,” he argued.
The high court had on December 14 asked the Centre to offer justification for the different pay scales for Agniveers and regular sepoys in the Indian Army if their job profile is same.
As the counsel for the central government responded while seeking to clarify that 'Agniveer' is a different cadre from the regular cadre of the armed forces, the high court said, "Different cadre does not answer job profile, the question is work and responsibility."
Defending the Agnipath scheme, the Centre has said a large amount of study has gone into making this policy. It said the decision to implement it was not taken lightly and the Union of India was mindful and cognisant of the situation.
Earlier, the bench had asked the petitioners who have challenged the short-term recruitment scheme as to which of their rights have been violated, and said it was voluntary and those having any problem should not join the armed forces under it.
The high court had said the Agnipath scheme has been formed by experts in the Army, Navy and Air Force and judges were not military experts.
The counsel for one of the petitioners had said that after being recruited under the scheme, the Agniveers will have a life insurance cover of Rs 48 lakh in case of contingency which is much less than the one in existence for regular soldiers.
Whatever the armed forces personnel are entitled to, these Agniveers will get them only for four years, the counsel had argued, adding had the service been for five years they would be entitled to gratuity.
The Centre had earlier submitted a consolidated reply to several petitions filed against Agnipath as well as other recruitment exercises that had begun before its launch but were halted midway, insisting there was no legal infirmity.
The government submitted the Agnipath scheme was introduced in exercise of its sovereign function to make national security and defence more "robust, impenetrable and abreast with changing military requirements".
One of the petitions before the high court has sought a direction to the armed forces to resume the recruitment exercises which were cancelled due to the introduction of the Agnipath scheme and prepare the final merit list after conducting a written examination within a stipulated time.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked the high courts of Kerala, Punjab and Haryana, Patna and Uttarakhand to transfer the PILs against the scheme that were pending before them to the Delhi high court or keep them pending till a decision by the Delhi high court is delivered, if the petitioners before it so desire.
