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New Delhi: The Lok Sabha has passed the Inter-Services Organisation (Command, Control & Discipline) Bill - 2023. The bill seeks to empower Commander-in-Chief and Officer-in Command of Inter-Services Organisations (ISOs) with all disciplinary and administrative powers in respect of the personnel serving in or attached to such organisations.
Currently, the Armed Forces personnel are governed in accordance with the provisions contained in their specific Service Acts - Army Act 1950, Navy Act 1957 and Air Force Act 1950. The enactment of the Bill will have various tangible benefits such as maintenance of effective discipline in inter-services establishments by the Heads of ISOs, no requirement of reverting personnel under disciplinary proceedings to their parent Service units, expeditious disposal of cases of misdemeanour or indiscipline and saving of public money & time by avoiding multiple proceedings.
The Bill would also pave the way for much greater integration and jointness amongst the three Services; lay a strong foundation for creation of Joint Structures in times to come and further improve the functioning of the Armed Forces.
Introducing the Bill in the Lok Sabha, defence minitser Rajnath Singh termed it as part of a series of military reforms being undertaken by the Government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the aim to empower the nation. He described the bill as an important step taken towards integration and jointness among the Armed Forces to face the future challenges in an integrated manner.
The ‘ISO Bill-2023’ is essentially an Enabling Act and it does not propose any change in the existing Service Acts/Rules/Regulations which are time-tested and have withstood judicial scrutiny over the last six decades or more. Service personnel when serving in or attached to an Inter-Services Organisation will continue to be governed by their respective Service Acts. What it does is to empower Heads of Inter-Services Organisations to exercise all the disciplinary and administrative powers as per the existing Service Acts/Rules/Regulations, irrespective of the service they belong to.
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