NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on February 27 dismissed petitions challenging the Central government's Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces, expressing "it is formulated in the national interest to ensure that the forces are better equipped".

A Bench led by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said: "Delhi High court finds that the petitioners have no vested right to claim that the recruitment under the 2019 

"The petitioners have no vested right to seek such recruitment, and secondly, that promissory estoppel and legitimate expectation find themselves severely restricted by the overarching concerns of public interest", it added.

The petitioners' argument that those who participated in the usual recruitment process should be treated equally with those who were recruited through rallies was likewise rejected by the Bench as lacking merit.

According to the Agnipath Schme, which was launched in June of last year, young people between the ages of 17 and a half and 21 would be enlisted for four years in the military forces and 25% of them would be maintained for 15 more years. Eventually, the government raised the recruitment age cap to 23 years old.

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