The Delhi High Court, on Thursday, refused to stay the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces and asked the Centre to file a reply on a batch of petitions challenging it.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramaniam Prasad asked the Centre to file a consolidated reply on petitions challenging the scheme.
The Agnipath scheme announced on June 14 provides for recruitment of youths in the defence forces between the age of 17-and-a-half and 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.
Protests had erupted in several states soon after the scheme was announced last month.