The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought a response from the Central government through concerned ministries within four weeks on batch of petitions challenging Agnipath Scheme. The HC bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad also asked the Centre to file a separate reply copy on various pending recruitment processes in Armed forces before the introduction of the scheme.
The High court, however, refused to stay the Agnipath Scheme, which was announced on June 14 provides for recruitment of youths in the defence forces between the age of 17-and-a-half and 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.
Notably, protests had erupted in several states soon after the scheme was announced. The Centre, therefore, extended the upper age limit to 23 years for the recruitment under the scheme in 2022.
