Agniveers, soldiers not on par for service benefits: Centre to HC

Mumbai: The Central govt has told the Bombay high court that Agniveers are not similarly placed as regular soldiers and hence cannot be given posthumous pensionary benefits.

The Centre’s affidavit in reply was filed to a petition by Jyothibai Naik, mother of Agniveer Murali Naik, who was killed on May 9, 2025, during Operation Sindoor. She urged equal posthumous benefits, including pension and welfare measures, for Agniveers on par with regular soldiers who die in the line of duty. Her petition said the Agnipath scheme creates “arbitrary distinction” between Agniveers and regular soldiers. Agniveers face the same risks as regular soldiers.

Centre’s reply said Agnipath scheme is a short-term engagement designed for present-day national needs. Agniveers are not similarly placed as regular soldiers. They are engaged for a fixed four-year period. Pensionary benefits and other emoluments in the Armed Forces are linked to long-term service.

“There can be no parity between two differently placed classes of persons. The classification and differentiation have a rational nexus with the objectives of the Agnipath scheme and are therefore, constitutionally valid under Article 14 (Right to Equality) of the Constitution of India,” the reply said.

It further said that having accepted the terms of engagement of the scheme, the deceased Agniveer’s mother cannot now seek to retrospectively apply the service benefits of a regular soldier to the Agniveer category. Classification between Agniveers and regular soldiers is based on intelligible differentia, including tenure of service, nature of engagement and conditions of recruitment.

Seeking dismissal of the petition, the Centre said recruitment of Agniveer is a policy decision taken for national security reasons and judicial review of such policy decisions is limited.

The Centre’s reply said the petitioner was under an “erroneous assumption” that Agniveers are entitled to the same pensionary benefits as regular soldiers. There is no provision for the grant of family pension to the next of kin of a deceased Agniveer, it added.

The reply informed that Murali Naik’s last rites were performed with full military honours, and his mother received a “heartfelt” condolence letter from the commanding officer of the regiment, as is done for regular soldiers. She received a total compensation of Rs 2.3 crore.