Pleas against Agnipath scheme: Centre files caveat in Supreme Court

The Centre has filed a caveat in the Supreme Court and urged that it be heard before the court passes any order on petitions against the Agnipath schemeThe Agnipath scheme announced on June 14 provides for the recruitment of youths between the age bracket of 175 to 21 for four years with the provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years Protests have erupted in several states against the schemeLater the government extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment in 2022Meanwhile a fresh petition was filed in the apex court on Monday seeking a direction to the Centre for reconsideration of the Agnipath schemeThe plea filed by Harsh Ajay Singh who is an advocate has sought a direction for the constitution of a committee for providing inputs to the Department of Military Affairs Ministry of Defence and also to invite suggestions including from retired Army officers for amendments to the scheme for providing job opportunities to 75 per cent Agniveers post retirementIt is respectfully submitted that the petitioner is genuinely concerned about maintenance of law and order in the country and for inviting the opinion of youths of the country whose future is at stake said the plea filed through advocate Kumud Lata DasIt said the scheme is to be implemented from June 24 and the announcement of Agnipath scheme has caused nationwide protest in various states including in Bihar Uttar Pradesh Telangana and West Bengal due to the shortterm duration of four years coupled with future uncertainties of the trained AgniveersThe petition alleged that this is a halfbaked reform with multiple ramificationsThere are various shortcomings in this reform and with further discussion it would have been executed as a better reform it saidIt claimed there is a great possibility of Agniveers trained under the scheme going astray and a fouryear recruitment is insufficient to inculcate the values and ethos of the young brigade of Indian armed forcesThe petitioner has also sought to stay implementation of the schemeTwo petitions were earlier filed in the apex court on the issueOne of the petitions has sought a direction to set up a Special Investigation Team SIT to probe the damage to public properties including that of the Railways and violent protests against the Centres Agnipath schemeThe plea has sought directions to the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh Telangana Bihar Haryana and Rajasthan governments to submit a status report on the violent protestsIt has also sought a direction to set up an expert committee under the chairmanship of a retired apex court judge to examine the scheme and its impact on national security and the ArmyAnother petition filed in the top court against the Centres Agnipath scheme has alleged that the government has quashed the centuryold selection process for the Armed forces which is contrary to the constitutional provisions and without having parliamentary approvalThe plea has sought to quash the June 14 notificationpress note claiming it to be illegal and unconstitutionalThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever