Sakina Tashrifwala
Published on: 10 September 2022 at 21:12 IST
Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea, which in essence assailed the Agnipath recruitment scheme for the armed forces.
A bench of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Hima Kohli requested the petitioner, who is also an advocate, to not stir up matters whose judgement is still pending before the Delhi High Court.
The order stated, “Petitions are already pending before the Delhi High Court where all issues are under consideration. It is not necessary to entertain a PIL at the behest of the petitioner who is an advocate practising before this court.”
“We dismiss the petition on that ground, clarifying that we have not expressed any opinion… on merits.”
Previously, all matters concerning the Agnipath Recruitment Scheme were handed over by the Supreme Court to the Delhi High Court. The transfer of the petitioner, when urged before the Delhi High Court to the Supreme Court, was refused as it would strip the SC of the reasoning presented by the High Court.
The transfer order was passed in three writ petitions filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. The first two were PILs (Public Interest Litigation), whereas the third one was a writ petition filed by a group of shortlisted for airman selection in the Indian Air Force who argued that the previous years should be completed despite the start of the Agnipath Scheme.
The petitioner in the ongoing petition claimed that he had a different purpose than the ones already filed. He further sought to investigate the protest pursuant to the launch of the Agnipath Scheme.
Justice Chandrachud added, “Don’t worry the Govt. will deal with that.”
The Court also further submitted that this petition indeed challenges the validity of the scheme by seeking to set up an expert committee to scrutinise the scheme and its impact on national security and the army.