‘Agnipath constitutionally valid’: HC rejects plea against scheme

The court said that the formulation of the scheme was an exercise of the “sovereign policymaking functions” of the Centre, which ought not be interfered with.

The Delhi high court on Monday upheld the validity of the Union government’s Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces, saying that the scheme was made in national interest and to ensure that the Indian military was younger and better suited to handle border challenges.

The Agnipath scheme, unveiled on June 14, 2022 lays out rules for the recruitment of soldiers in the armed forces. (ANI)

The court said that the formulation of the scheme was an exercise of the “sovereign policymaking functions” of the Centre, which ought not be interfered with.

In its judgment, a bench of chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad said that the army recruitment scheme passes the test of public interest as the stated objective of the scheme is to reduce the age of the armed forces and make the forces leaner, more agile, and that this is beneficial for border security in the wake of several recent skirmishes.

The court said that “such (border) transgressions exacerbate the need to have a leaner and fitter armed force which is capable of handling the mental and physical distress that accompanies service in the forces”.

Though the court did not mention China, the possible reference was to the clash between Indian and Chinese forces in Galwan in Ladakh in June 2020 and in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh in December 2022.

“Considering the fact that the laudable objective of maintaining national security is at the heart of the scheme, this court does not find it arbitrary, capricious or devoid of reason. This has been done by the government in order to meet the objective of creating an armed force which is agile, youthful, physically fit, and mentally alert,” the court said while dismissing the pleas challenging the recruitment scheme.

Calling it a well-thought-out policy decision, the court said that such decisions of national security are taken after careful consideration of the sociopolitical scenario of the country, along with the sociopolitical scenario of border countries. It said that courts should not delve into the appropriateness of such policy decisions and, thus, endanger one of the most important aspects of the basic structure doctrine -- the principle of separation of powers.

The Agnipath scheme, unveiled on June 14, 2022 lays out rules for the recruitment of soldiers in the armed forces. According to these rules, those between 17-and-a-half and 21 years of age are eligible to apply and are inducted for a four-year tenure. The scheme allows 25% of them to be granted regular service, and the rest to be released. It is now the only recruitment scheme for people below officer rank.

On July 19, 2022 the Supreme Court had transferred petitions challenging the scheme to the Delhi high court.

The high court also dismissed pleas by candidates seeking enrolment as per the previous recruitment scheme on the grounds that their recruitment process was halted midway due to the introduction of the Agnipath scheme.

The court ruled that there was no vested right in claiming appointment after a selected list has been declared, and on account of the larger public interest weighing strongly in favour of the Agnipath scheme.

“The government in this case cannot be held to be bound by the recruitment process initiated by it. Further, as dealt with already, the petitioners, who are at various stages of the recruitment process, have no vested right to claim such recruitment,” the court said.