New Delhi: The Ministry of Defence Tuesday issued a gazette notification amending rules regarding the appointment of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of India. According to the notification, the Union Government may consider for the post officers who are serving as Lt Gen equivalent or General equivalent or officers who have retired in the rank of Lt General or General but have not attained the age of 62 years on the date of appointment.
The post of the CDS has been lying vacant since December 8 when the then CDS Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika along with 12 other defence officials died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu. The regulations have been amended for all three wings of the armed forces. In the case of officers belonging to the Air Force, all those "serving as Air Marshal or Air Chief Marshal", or those have retired at either of these two ranks, will be eligible for appointment as the CDS, the defence ministry said.
The central government can, if it finds necessary in public interest, extend the tenure of the serving CDS “for such period as it may deem necessary subject to a maximum age of 65 years", the notification stated.
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