Supreme Court transfers pleas challenging Agnipath scheme to Delhi HC

The Supreme Court Tuesday transferred three petitions filed before it challenging the Centre’s Agnipath recruitment scheme to the Delhi High Court, Bar and Bench reported.

A bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud, Surya Kant and A S Bopanna noted, “High courts, which are hearing this (plea against Agnipath) are Kerala, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, Patna and Uttarakhand. Several proceedings are also ongoing before the Armed Forces Tribunal, Kochi. In our view, the multiplicity of petitions on the subject will not be desirable or proper.”

Additionally, the apex court directed other high courts of Kerala, Punjab and Haryana, Patna and Uttarakhand to either allow the petitioners to have their pleas transferred to the Delhi HC or to keep their petitions pending with liberty to petitioners to intervene in Delhi HC.

The bench was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that a number of petitions have already been filed before the Delhi HC. “We are of the view that the three writ petitions instituted before this court should be transferred to the Delhi HC and renumbered as petitions under Article 226,” the bench then stated.

The apex court also asked the Delhi HC to consider hearing the transferred pleas and other petitions pending before it on the matter expeditiously.

Advocate ML Sharma, whose plea the SC was hearing, requested that no new plea challenging the Agnipath scheme should be entertained in the SC. To this, Justice Chandrachud responded, “we will pass the same orders therein.”