In a major move to appoint the successor of late General Bipin Rawat, the Narendra Modi government on Tuesday amended the acts of three services to make serving three-star officers and retired three-and four-star officers eligible for appointment as country's next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
As per the notifications issued by the Ministry of Defence, any serving or retired Lieutenant General, Air Marshal and Vice Admiral under the age of 62 years will be eligible for the post of Chief of Defence Staff.
"The Central Government may, if considered necessary, in public interest, so to do, appoint as Chief of Defence Staff, an officer who is serving as Lieutenant General or General or an officer who has retired in the rank of Lieutenant General or General but has not attained the age of sixty-two years on the date of his appointment," said the gazette notification amending the Army Rules 1954.
The notification for Air Force suggests that the government may consider an officer who is serving as Air Marshal or Air Chief Marshal or an officer who has retired in similar ranks but has not attained the age of 62 years on the date of appointment.
An identical notification was issued for the Indian Navy under the Navy Act 1957. 
The government said that it may also extend the service of the Chief of Defence Staff for such a period as it may deem necessary subject to a maximum age of 65 years.
The new notification suggests that now only serving chiefs and retired commander-in-chief rank officers would be in the fray for an appointment.
The recently retired chiefs would also be out of the loop as they have already attained the age of 62 which is the upper limit.
The office of the Chief of Defence Staff, one of the biggest military reforms which resulted in more coordination in working between the government and the defence forces, has been lying vacant since the passing away of General Bipin Rawat, India’s first CDS last December.
The CDS is also the single point of contact for the government for giving military advice and is the senior-most bureaucrat in the defence ministry which has four major departments. (With agency inputs)
