Bombay High Court. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday (December 16, 2025) issued a notice to the Union Ministry of Defence on a petition filed by the mother of Agniveer Murali Naik, who was killed in cross-border shelling in Jammu & Kashmir during Operation Sindoor, challenging the denial of full death benefits granted to families of regular soldiers.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Ashwin D. Bhobe directed the Centre to file its response by January 15, 2026, and posted the matter for hearing on the same date. Advocate Prakash Ambedkar, along with advocates Hitendra Gandhi and Sandesh More, appeared for the petitioner.
The plea, filed by Naik’s mother Jyothibai Shriram Naik, contends that the Centre’s Agnipath scheme creates an “arbitrary and unreasonable” distinction between Agniveers and regular soldiers, resulting in “discriminatory” denial of long-term welfare benefits to families of those who die in service. It argues that Agniveers perform the same duties and face identical risks as regular soldiers but are excluded from post-service pension and institutional recognition.
Naik, recruited under the Agnipath scheme in June 2023, was killed on May 9, 2025, in Poonch when the Pakistan Army launched heavy artillery and mortar attacks during Operation Sindoor, a retaliatory military action following the Pahalgam terror strike in April that claimed 26 lives, mostly tourists.
According to the petition, families of martyred Agniveers receive an ex-gratia amount of around ₹1 crore but are denied regular family pension and other benefits available to kin of regular soldiers. The petitioner has sought directions to grant equal posthumous benefits, including pensions and welfare measures, to families of Agniveers who die in the line of duty.
The plea clarifies that it does not challenge the validity of the Agnipath scheme in its entirety but asserts that the classification violates fundamental rights under the Constitution. “The scheme created an arbitrary and unreasonable classification between Agniveers and regular soldiers without any intelligible differentia,” it stated.
“My son wore the same uniform, took the same oath, and faced the same dangers as any regular soldier. Yet, because of the terms of the Agnipath scheme, his supreme sacrifice is not recognised with the dignity, honor, and security that the family of a martyred soldier is supposed to receive,” Ms. Naik stated in her plea.
Introduced in 2022, the Agnipath scheme provides short-term induction of personnel in the Army, Navy and Air Force, recruiting candidates aged 17.5 to 21 years for four years, with 25% retained for an additional 15 years.
Published – December 17, 2025 05:31 am IST
