NEW DELHI: As Indian armed Forces are undergoing the biggest transformative process since independence, the enabling Rules formulated under the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Act 2023 have come into effect from May 27, 2025.
The Ministry of Defence on Wednesday said that his significant step is aimed at bolstering effective command, control, and efficient functioning of Inter-Services Organisations (ISOs), thereby strengthening jointness among the Armed Forces.
“The Act empowers the Commanders-in-Chief and Officers-in-Command of the ISOs to exercise command and control over the service personnel serving under them, ensuring effective maintenance of discipline and administration within the organisations.”, said MoD.
This is achieved without altering the unique service conditions applicable to each branch of the Armed Forces.
This is significant as the process of reorganisation in the Army, Navy and Air Force continues which will ultimately get restructured into theatre commands where the personnel from the different services will start working together under a commander, who can be from the other services.
Earlier, the commander-in-chief or officer-in-command of the inter-services organisations was not empowered to exercise disciplinary/administrative powers over the personnel belonging to other services. Only officers of the respective services were empowered to exercise disciplinary powers over the service personnel under their respective Service Acts. In such a situation, the officers serving in these organisations needed to be reverted to their respective parent service units for exercising any disciplinary or administrative action.
The rules are a result of the process which began years back as the Bill on it was passed by both Houses of Parliament during the Monsoon Session of 2023. It received the assent of the President on August 15, 2023, and the Act came into force with effect from May 10, 2024, as per the Gazette Notification dated May 08, 2024. Subsequently, the ISOs were notified through Gazette Notification No SRO 72 dated December 27, 2024.
The newly notified subordinate Rules, framed under Section 11 of the Act, are intended to facilitate the effective implementation of the provisions laid down in the legislation.
The MoD says these Rules “are a critical enabler for the functioning of the ISOs and establish a comprehensive framework for discipline, administrative control, and operational synergy.”
With the notification of these Rules, the Act is now fully operational. This will empower the heads of the ISOs, enable the expeditious disposal of disciplinary cases, and help avoid the duplication of proceedings.
The restructuring of Military Commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through the establishment of joint or theatre commands in which the personnel of the three forces will serve together.
As reported earlier by TNIE, the personnel of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force are governed in accordance with the provisions contained in their specific governing or regulatory Service Acts -- the Army Act, 1950; the Navy Act, 1957; and the Air Force Act, 1950.
At the time of enactment of these respective Acts, most of the service organisations were largely comprised of personnel from a single service i.e. Either Army, Navy or Air Force. However, now there are numerous inter-services organisations such as Andaman and Nicobar Command, Strategic Forces Command, Defence Space Agency etc. And joint training establishments like National Defence Academy and National Defence College, where personnel of the armed forces and other forces serve together.