HC notice to Centre on plea of slain Agniveer's mother against denial of 'full' benefits to family

Mumbai, Dec 16 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Tuesday sought the Centre's response on a plea filed by the mother of an Agniveer who was killed in cross-border shelling in Jammu & Kashmir during Operation Sindoor, challenging the denial of benefits to which a regular soldier's family is entitled to in such cases.

A bench headed by Justice Ravindra Ghuge issued a notice to the Ministry of Defence, seeking its response on the plea filed by the mother of Agniveer Murali Naik, and posted the matter for hearing on January 15.

The Centre's Agnipath scheme creates an "arbitrary" distinction between Agniveers (as recruits under the scheme are called) and regular soldiers, claimed the plea filed by Naik's mother Jyotibai, questioning the "discriminatory" denial of full death benefits to the family.

Naik, an Agniveer, was killed on May 9 in Poonch, J&K, when the Pakistan Army resorted to heavy cross-border artillery and mortar attacks as India launched Operation Sindoor, a military action in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror strike that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in April.

The petition, filed through advocates Sandesh More, Hemant Ghadigaonkar and Hitendra Gandhi, argued Agniveers perform the same duties and face the same risks as regular soldiers, yet the families of those recruited under the short-term induction programme are denied long-term pension and other welfare benefits.

"The Agnipath scheme introduced by the government expressly excludes Agniveers from post-service pension benefits and other long-term welfare entitlements normally available to regular soldiers," the petition pointed out.

As per the plea, the family of a martyred Agniveer gets an ex-gratia amount of around Rs 1 crore, but not a regular family pension or any other benefits.

The petition sought directions to the government to ensure equal posthumous benefits, including pensions, institutional recognition, and welfare measures for families of Agniveers who die in service. It also sought a direction to authorities concerned to consider the petitioner's request for these benefits to be extended to her family.

As per the plea, Naik was recruited in the Indian Army in June 2023 under the Agnipath scheme.

After his death, his mother sent letters to several authorities, requesting her family be granted the same benefits as those given to families of regular soldiers, who die in line of duty.

However, she was yet to receive any reply, claimed the petition.

The petition noted while it is not challenging the validity of the Agnipath scheme in its entirety, it was "discriminatory" and violated the fundamental rights of citizens.

"The scheme created an arbitrary and unreasonable classification between Agniveers and regular soldiers without any intelligible differentia," it said.

Notably, the Centre introduced Agnipath in 2022 for short-term induction of personnel in the Army, Navy and Air Force, with an aim to bring down the age profile of the three services.

The scheme provides for recruiting Agniveers between the age group of 17-and-a-half years and 21 years for a block period of four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for another 15 years. PTI SP RSY