More than two decades after forming the first tri-service command, the Defence Ministry on Wednesday introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to empower the commanding officers of such units as well as the heads of inter-services training establishments to take disciplinary actions against the officers and men serving in the units.
This has not been possible till now because service personnel of the air force, army and navy are governed by the provisions of the Air Force Act, 1950, the Army Act, 1950 and the Navy Act, 1957. Only officers of the respective services are empowered to exercise disciplinary powers over the service personnel under the respective Service Acts.
The Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill 2023 – introduced by the Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt – will seek to bridge this gap because of which taking disciplinary actions in tri-service commands has become a lengthy and time-consuming exercise.
The Bill would have a direct impact on command, control and discipline of inter-services organisations like Andaman and Nicobar Command or Defence Space Agency, and joint training establishment like National Defence Academy or National Defence College, according to the Statement of Objects and Reasons in the Bill.
The Commander-in-Chief or Officer-in-Command of such Inter-services Organisations are not empowered to exercise disciplinary or administrative powers over the personnel belonging to other services.
The first tri-service command, the Andaman and Nicobar Command, was formed in 2001 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government as a part of overhauling of India’s higher defence management. This was followed by the Strategic Forces Command two years later.
The proposed legislation will essentially be an enabling act that would empower the heads of the inter-services organisations to exercise effective command, control and discipline on all personnel of the Indian Air Force, Indian Army and Indian Navy and to persons of other forces attached to an inter-services body.
Once it is passed by both the Houses of the Parliament, the legislation may also come handy as and when the government forms the long-awaited theatre commands integrating most of the 17 individual commands run by the three services.