Agnipath scheme: Centre says Supreme Court 'must hear us before any decision'

In response to multiple petitions filed in the Supreme Court challenging the government's newly launched Agnipath scheme, the Centre on Tuesday filed a caveat in the Supreme Court urging that the court "must hear its side" before taking any decision on the petitions challenging the military recruitment scheme.

Up till now, three separate petitions have been filed in the apex court against the newly launched short-term recruitment scheme. The Centre's counter-filing did not mention any of the petitions in particular.

On Monday, a petition was filed by advocate Harsh Ajay Singh seeking issuance of directions to the centre to reconsider its stance plan, noting that the announcement of the scheme caused violent protests in several parts of the country.

Prior to that, on the same day, a plea was filed by advocate ML Sharma which sought an outright quashing of the Centre's new scheme, calling it "illegal and unconstitutional."

On Saturday, advocate Vishal Tiwari in his petition urged the Supreme Court to set up a committee to examine the scheme and its impact on national security and Army.

The petition also sought a direction from the top court to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the large-scale violence against the scheme that led to the destruction of public property.

Published on: Tuesday, June 21, 2022, 10:47 AM IST