Govt introduces bill in Lok Sabha to strengthen tri-services commanders' powers

Tags: National News

The Defense Ministry introduced a bill in Parliament on March 15, giving the three service chiefs disciplinary powers over all personnel of the three forces serving under them.

An overview of the news

• The name of the bill is "Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill, 2023".

• Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt introduced the bill.

• The Bill seeks to empower the Commander-in-Chief or the Officer-in-Command of Inter-Services Organizations for the maintenance of discipline and proper discharge of their duties in relation to service personnel.

• According to the bill, the central government can constitute an Inter-Services Organization through a notification.

• Presently the Indian Air Force, Army and Navy are governed by the Air Force Act, 1950, the Army Act, 1950 and the Navy Act, 1957 respectively.

• Therefore, only the officers of these three armed forces are given disciplinary powers.

• This has implications for the inter-service organizations of the services, such as the Andaman and Nicobar Command, the Defense Space Agency and joint training establishments such as the National Defense Academy (NDA).

• Therefore, the Command-in-Chief or Officer-in-Command of such military organizations does not get disciplinary and administrative powers when attached to other services.