Service Chiefs' tenure restricted
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 31 — The government today issued orders restricting the tenure of the three Service Chiefs to three years while increasing their retirement age from 60 to 62 years.

As per the letter issued by the Ministry of Defence, the three Service Chiefs would now retire at the age of 62 years or following the completion of three years of tenure, whichever is earlier. The notification also puts to rest the controversy over the retirement age and the tenure of the Service Chiefs which had been raging after the government increased the retirement age.

The three Service headquarters had earlier sent a proposal for increasing the tenure of the Service Chiefs from the present three years to five years which, according to them, would have been in line with the proposed increase in the retirement age. The proposal had been sent to the Department of Personnel and Training for clearance after the government had issued the notification for increasing the retirement age of Central government employees.

However, the proposal was rejected by the department which pointed out that although the retirement age of the Service Chiefs could be raised to 62 years but their tenure should remain at three years, which has been the practice in the past. By issuing the notification today, the MoD has also rejected the proposal of the three Service headquarters.

The notification makes it clear the new arrangement would be applicable to the present incumbents as well and that their tenure shall be counted from the date of assuming charge as Chief of the Army Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff respectively.

As far as the incumbents were concerned, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal S.K. Sareen, retires on December 31, 1998, after completing a tenure of three years. The Army Chief, Gen. V.P. Malik, who would have retired at the age of 60 years before completing the three-year tenure, would now retire in September 2000 after completing the full tenure.

Similarly, the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, would now retire in September, 1999 after completing the full tenure of three years.

According to reports, a separate notification concerning the retirement age of the officers and other ranks in the Army and the Air Force was likely to be issued soon. However, the retirement age of the officers and other ranks in the Navy would be issued separately. This, the sources said, was being done due to the technicality involved in doing away the tenure system at the level of Vice-Admiral and Rear Admiral.

The naval authorities had requested the tenure system at the level of Vice-Admirals and Rear Admirals should be dispensed with. The Ministry of Defence was also agreeable to the proposal and accordingly a separate notification would be issued.

This, reports said, was being done as the tenure system for the two levels had been approved by the Union Cabinet. It was only in the fitness of things that this should also be done away with the Cabinet approval.