In a major decision, the government today made changes in rules to broaden the scope of eligible officers for the post of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

The Ministry of Defence issued a gazette notification which suggests that any serving or retired Lieutenant General, Air Marshal or Vice Admiral under the age of 62 years will also now be eligible for the post of CDS.

The decision effectively paves the way for the second-highest active rank officers of the tri-services to possibly supersede their seniors — the chief of the Indian Army, IAF or the Indian Navy. This also widens the pool from which a CDS can be appointed.

The government can now appoint as the next CDS anyone from the three serving chiefs, any serving three-star officer, any retired chief who is less than 62 or any retired three-star officer also below the same age.

The notification aims to amend regulations of the three defence forces related to the appointment of CDS. According to the notification, the top serving and retired officers from the three services will now be eligible for the top post.

A significant change in the eligibility criteria is the inclusion of recently retired service chiefs and vice chiefs despite the age ceiling being 62 years.

The post of CDS fell vacant after the sudden demise of Gen Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu in December last year. His wife and twelve other armed forces personnel were also killed in the crash. Since then, the name of the Chief of Army Staff, Gen M M Naravane had been doing rounds until his retirement on 30 April.

The CDS is the military head and permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CSC) of the armed forces. He is also the chief military adviser to the Minister of Defence and heads the Department of Military Affairs. The CDS is assisted by a vice-chief, the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff.

The post of the CDS was created with the aim of improving coordination, tri-service effectiveness and overall integration of the combat capabilities of the armed forces. At the time of the creation of the post, no analogous position existed.

Gen Rawat was appointed CDS in December 2020 soon after he retired as the Chief of Army Staff.