The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to list next week a plea challenging the Agnipath recruitment scheme to the Armed Forces. In an oral mentioning made before a Vacation Bench led by Justice Indira Banerjee, advocate Kumud Lata Das, appearing for 31 Air Force aspirants, said the scheme should not be made applicable for those who are already undergoing the selection process.
The petitioners are awaiting their enrolment as Airmen in the IAF in Group 'X' Trades (Except Education Instructor) and Group 'Y' (Except Auto Tech, IAF(P), IAF(S) and Musician Trades) for Intake 02/21 conducted by the Central Airmen Selection Board (CASB).
The advertisement for these posts was published in December 2019. The online forms were invited in January 2020. The provisional list of candidates was published in May 2021. Though the petitioners were shortlisted for selection, the recruitment did not take place due to administrative reasons. However, the government had announced the Agnipath scheme, which reduces the tenure from 20 years to four, on June 14.
