[Agnipath Scheme] Agniveer matter is core issue, will decide its constitutionality first: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Friday said that it will first hear the pleas that directly challenge the Agnipath Scheme and then come to allied petitions against cancellation of recruitment processes in the Armed Forces in light of the Scheme. .A Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati to segregate the matters that directly challenge the Scheme and those that deal with recruitment processes across the country.The Bench said that its decision on the constitutional validity of the Agnipath Scheme will have some bearing on the other matters, and therefore, it would deal with the challenge to the Scheme first. “We will first hear the Agniveer matter. Agniveer is the main matter. I have expressed my opinion that this is the core issue. It will have some bearing on all other cases,” CJ Sharma said. .The Bench made it clear that it would not adjourn the cases for a long date, and would consider them on December 12 at 2:30 PM. It further said that it would consider the suggestion made by Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for one of the petitioners, that the matter should be heard on a day-to-day basis..Justice Prasad also pointed out that the reply filed by the Central government is restricted only to the Agnipath Scheme and does not deal with the other plea. If the government wants to add something to its reply, it can, the judge said. Other parties were also permitted to file any additional replies or rejoinder..The Delhi High Court is hearing 24 petitions related to the Agnipath Scheme and recruitment to the Armed Forces. There are three sets of petitions before the Court. While one batch challenges the government's Agnipath Scheme directly, another say that despite the Scheme, the recruitment processes were ongoing but not completed. The third batch says that even though the process was completed, the recruits are yet to be appointed. .The Agnipath Scheme proposes to induct youth into the Indian Army for four years. After this period, out of the selected candidates, only 25 per cent will be continued in the Indian Army while the rest will be denied jobs in the Armed Forces. The introduction of the Scheme had prompted widespread protests across the country, some of which turned violent. It had also led to a slew of petitions being filed in various courts.The Supreme Court had in July transferred the petitions listed before itself as well as various High Courts across the country to the Delhi High Court.As a result of this, several matters from various High Courts have come to Delhi. .The Central government had filed a consolidated reply to these petitions, stating that Agnipath will make the forces young and recruits who exit after their tenure will prove to be a nationalist, disciplined and skilled manpower.The Modi government has said that an analysis of the existing structure of 'below officer' rank divisions in the Indian Armed Forces shows that the average age of a personnel was 32 years, while globally, it is only around 26 years. The Armed Forces’ retention policy, under which a jawan, sailor or airman serves between 15 to 20 years, is the main reason for it.