Transfer petitions yet to receive, list pleas for Aug 25: Delhi HC

NEW DELHI : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said it will hear on August 25 a batch of petitions challenging the Centre’s Agnipath scheme as it is yet to receive the files of pleas transferred to it by the Supreme Court.

A bench of Delhi High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the apex court on July 19 transferred here all the pleas pending before it challenging the scheme for recruitment in the armed forces.

The top court has also asked the high courts of Kerala, Punjab and Haryana, Patna and Uttarakhand to transfer the PILs against the Agnipath scheme pending before them to the Delhi High Court or keep it pending till a decision from the Delhi High Court is delivered, if the petitioners before it so desire.

On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court bench said the transferred petitions are not before it and the matter be listed for hearing after two weeks.

The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, provides for the recruitment of youths in the defence forces between the age of 17-and-ahalf and 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years. Protests had erupted in several states soon after the scheme was announced last month.

Later, the government extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment under the scheme in 2022.

During the hearing, the solicitor general informed the high court about the order passed by the apex court on Tuesday and within two-three days, the matters which are transferred by the Supreme Court to the Delhi High Court will be here. We are here to assist the court .