New bill tabled to clear decks for theaterisation

The government on Wednesday introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to empower the commanders of tri-services organisations to take action against service personnel of the army, air force and navy — serving under existing or future joint commands or institutions — to ensure discipline and effective discharge of duties, amid a renewed push for theaterisation, a long-awaited military reform for the best use of the military’s resources to fight future wars.

The Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill, 2023, seeks to bestow powers on the commander-in-chief, officer-in-command or any other officer heading a tri-services organisation to take disciplinary and administrative action against personnel under them who are currently governed by the respective laws of the three services, the Army Act, 1950, the Air Force Act, 1950, and the Navy Act, 1957.

The existing legal framework of the armed forces has its limitations when it comes to tri-services matters as officers of one particular service lack the authority to exercise disciplinary and administrative powers over personnel belonging to another service. For instance, a three-star general heading a joint command cannot take action against air force or navy personnel serving under him.

A copy of the bill, accessed by HT, said the lack of such powers with the heads of inter-services organisations and joint establishments over personnel belonging to a service other than their own has a direct impact on command, control and discipline. It made the point while mentioning joint organisations like the Andaman and Nicobar Command, the Defence Space Agency, the National Defence Academy and National Defence College.

“As a consequence, the personnel serving in inter-services organisations need to be reverted to their parent service units for any disciplinary or administrative action. This is not only time consuming, but also has financial implications relating to movement of the personnel,” the government said in a statement on the objectives of the Bill.

That’s not the only concern.

The problem, the government said, becomes even more cumbersome when the disciplinary or administrative proceedings stem from the same set of circumstances but involve personnel belonging to different services.

“Multiple sets of proceedings under the respective Service Acts are required to be initiated, which impedes expeditious disposal of cases, thereby affecting the standard of discipline,” it pointed out.

The Bill seeks to address these critical issues “without disturbing the unique service conditions or amending the Service Acts.”

The proposed law will improve the functioning of inter-services organisations as they will be able to work with greater independence as a result of much-needed powers being vested in their commanders, said Lieutenant General Satish Dua (retd), a former Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee.

“The timing is also significant as the armed forces are moving towards theaterisation. The utility of the law will only increase as more inter-services organisations come up,” Dua added.

Another key objective of the Bill is to empower the Union government to notify the setting up of inter-services organisations, including joint services commands — a key goal of the ongoing theaterisation drive — comprising units and personnel drawn from the three services, and placed under a commander-in-chief or officer-in-command.

Efforts to push theaterisation have been on after General Anil Chauhan took over as the chief of defence staff (CDS) in September 2022 even though the momentum was hit after his predecessor, General Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash in December 2021.

The government said the proposed law will be an “enabling legislation,” and bring in a raft of “tangible benefits” including faster disposal of cases, it will save time and public money by doing away with multiple proceedings, and also enhance integration and jointmanship among the armed forces.

The theaterisation model being pursued under General Rawat sought to set up four integrated commands — two land-centric theatres, an air defence command and a maritime theatre command. This, however, is being reworked on the back of the Indian Air Force’s reservations about the joint structures that were earlier under consideration, officials familiar with the matter said. The armed forces have 17 single-service commands spread across the country. The army and air force have seven commands each, while the navy has three. Creating theatres would involve merging the existing commands.

Get Latest India Newsalong with Latest Newsand Top Headlinesfrom India and around the world.