Parliamentary defence panel recommends passing of inter-services organisations bill

The primary objective of the inter-services organizations (Command, Control & Discipline) Bill, 2023 is to grant comprehensive disciplinary and administrative powers to the commander-in-chief and officer-in-command of inter-services organizations. These powers are intended to apply to all personnel serving in or attached to such organizations or establishments.

The Parliamentary Panel on Defence has recommended the passing and enactment of the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control, and Discipline) Bill, 2023, as a statute without any amendments. The 39th Report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) on the bill was presented to Lok Sabha on Friday and also laid in Rajya Sabha. The Inter-Services Organisation (Command, Control, and Discipline) Bill, 2023, was introduced in Lok Sabha on March 15 and referred to the Standing Committee on Defence by the Speaker on April 24 for examination and report.

In its report, the committee expressed agreement with the provisions of the bill and unequivocally recommended its passage without any amendments, enacting it as a statute while considering the committee's observations and recommendations.

The committee acknowledged that the current governing and regulatory framework for personnel of the Army, Navy, and Air Force is based on their respective governing Service Acts—the Army Act, 1950, the Navy Act, 1957, and the Air Force Act, 1950.

However, due to the establishment of numerous inter-services organizations such as Andaman and Nicobar Command, Strategic Forces Command, Defence Space Agency, as well as joint training establishments like National Defence Academy and National Defence College, where personnel from different armed forces serve together, it has become necessary to address the lack of disciplinary and administrative powers for officers serving in these organizations.

Currently, the commander-in-chief or officer-in-command of inter-services organizations lacks the authority to exercise disciplinary and administrative powers over personnel from other services. Only officers of their respective services possess such powers under their respective Service Acts, leading to a need for officers serving in these organizations to be reverted to their respective parent service units for any disciplinary or administrative actions.

To address these issues, the Ministry of Defence proposed the enactment of the inter-services organizations (Command, Control & Discipline) Bill, 2023, which seeks to empower the commander-in-chief and officer-in-command of inter-services organizations with all disciplinary and administrative powers concerning personnel serving in or attached to such organizations or establishments.

According to the report, the proposed bill would be an enabling legislation, empowering the heads of inter-services organizations to exercise effective command, control, and discipline over all personnel of regular Air Force, Army, and Navy, as well as persons of other forces as notified by the central government, without amending the respective Service Acts. Service personnel serving in or attached to inter-services organizations will continue to be governed by their respective Service Acts.

The examination of the committee is based on the background brief provided by the Ministry of Defence, oral examination of the ministry's representatives on May 29, and post-evidence replies sought by the committee. The committee members are mandated to present their report to Parliament by the last day of the first week of the ensuing Monsoon session, scheduled to end on August 11, which began on July 20.