[Agnipath Scheme] Delhi High Court to hear plea to resume pending recruitment processes in defence services tomorrow

The Delhi High Court will hear on Wednesday a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to resume the pending recruitment processes in defence services which were canceled due to the introduction of the Agnipath Scheme.

On Tuesday, a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad heard the case but scheduled it for further consideration on Wednesday i.e. July 20, when a batch of similar cases will be heard.

The petitioner is a 22-year-old man named Rahul from Haryana’s Hisar, who contended that all three armed forces – Army, Navy, and Air Force – issued numerous advertisements across the country to fill over one lakh vacant positions for Persons Below Officer Rank (PBOR) in 2020 and 2021.

Rahul claimed that he, along with thousands of other candidates, applied for the jobs advertised above and even participated in the recruitment process on several occasions, as requested.

Subsequently, the plea stated as a result of the implementation of the Agnipath scheme, all pending recruitment processes were canceled.

It was further contended that such illegal and arbitrary cancellation of the recruitment process, where the candidates had already passed the physical and medical examination, not only caused grave shock and immense pain, but also violated the fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.

Notably, the Supreme Court today has transferred all petitions filed before it challenging the Agnipath Recruitment scheme to the High Court.

Case Title: Rahul v. Union of India & Ors.

[Inputs: The New India Express]