New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday declined to stay the Agnipath programme for armed services recruitment and ordered the Center to respond to several applications that had been filed against it.
Upon receiving petitions contesting the programme, a bench consisting of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad ordered the Center to submit a consolidated reply.
Announced on June 24, the Agnipath scheme envisages recruiting youngsters between 17 and a half to 21 in the defence force for four years and retaining 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.
Protests against the project have been raised in many states soon after the plan was revealed.
Later, the government extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment under the scheme in 2022.
With PTI inputs