A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday dismissed a writ petition filed by 23 youths who applied for various posts of soldiers in the Army seeking a directive to the Centre not to cancel the notification issued earlier on recruitment to the posts.
The Bench comprising Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiarand and Justice Mohammed Nias C.P. said that the petition was not maintainable and the petitioners had to approach the Armed Forces Tribunal in this regard.
In their petition, Abymon Varghese of Idukki and others said that the Army Recruiting Office had issued admit cards to them for recruitment. In fact, they had completed successfully the physical examination held on February 28, 2021, in Thiruvananthapuram. As they are NCC ‘C’ certificate holders, they were exempted from the Common Entrance Examination (CEE) scheduled on April 25, 2021, which was postponed in the wake of the COVID pandemic.
According to the petitioners, being NCC ‘C’ certificate holders, they were eligible to be appointed to the posts . They were waiting for the call letter to join the Army for the last two years. However, the Union Ministry of Defence had issued a notification implementing a new scheme ‘Agnipath’ for recruitment in the Armed forces. The new notification also clarified that all pending processes including CEE for the previous recruitment years stood cancelled.
It stated that all eligible candidates were required to apply fresh for recruitment through the scheme. The move by the Central government was against the rules followed by the Indian Army and also against the interest of the public and the nation.
They sought a directive to the Central government to appoint them and not to cancel the notification for the selection.
