The government has granted a one-month extension to Pande till June 30 under the relevant army rules, the defence ministry said in a statement.
Who Will Become The Next Indian Army Chief?
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet, on May 26, 2024, approved the extension in service of COAS General Manoj C Pande for a period of one month, beyond his normal age of superannuation (May 31, 2024), i.e. up to June 30, 2024, under Rule 16 A (4) of the Army Rules 1954. He was appointed as the COAS on April 30, 2022. He was commissioned in December 1982 in the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers). He held the appointment of Vice Chief of the Army Staff before taking over as the COAS.
The government has granted a one-month extension to Pande till June 30 under the relevant army rules, the defence ministry said in a statement. The first and only such extension was granted more than five decades ago by the Indira Gandhi government to General GG Bewoor, who succeeded Field Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw as army chief in January 1973.
The date is significant as well because it is the day the two senior-most generals believed to be in the running for the top post also retire. Army vice chief Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, thus far widely seen as the frontrunner for the top job, is currently the senior-most officer in service after Pande followed by Southern Army commander Lt General AK Singh.
Both Dwivedi and Singh will retire on June 30. They were commissioned into the army in December 1984.
To be sure, a top officer can be appointed service chief even if he is retiring on the same day as the outgoing chief. Successive governments have traditionally gone by the seniority principle to appoint service chiefs, though there have been rare instances of senior-most officers being overlooked for the top post.
“The extension given to Pande has triggered a lot of speculation about who will succeed him. The top job could go to the senior-most officer or any of the army commanders if the government goes in for deep selection. We will have to wait and watch,” said a senior officer, who asked not to be named.
