Defence circles see political interference in Army Chief appointment

Government sources say due process has been followed in selecting Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat , considering the security environment

Surprise move: Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat was appointed Army chief by superseding two seniors.

The Union government on Sunday put up a strong defence of its decision to appoint Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat the next Army Chief, citing his “tremendous hands-on experience” of serving in combat areas and the need for such a person in “the current situation”.

“Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat was found the best suited among the Lieutenant-Generals, to deal with emerging challenges, including a reorganised and restructured military force in the north; continuing terrorism and proxy war from the west, and the situation in the Northeast,” a Defence Ministry source said.

‘Bad precedent’

However, a cross-section of serving officers from colonels to Generals expressed concern at the “political interference” in the appointments which could set a “bad precedent”. “This is the beginning of the end of the apolitical Army. Now people will play to the gallery. It is very unfortunate,” Lt. Gen. Anil Chait, former Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff, told The Hindu .

He questioned if experience in the Eastern Command was not operational experience. “Does the Army Chief only have to fight counter-insurgency operations,” he asked in an apparent reference to the superseding of Lt. Gen. Praveen Bakshi, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command.

In a surprise decision, the government on Saturday appointed the present Army Vice-Chief, Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat, the next Army Chief superseding two senior eligible Generals.

By a long tradition, the senior-most eligible officer is appointed Chief, which, as several officers had pointed out, had ensured there was no political favouritism in the selection.

By seniority, Eastern Army Commander Lt.Gen. Praveen Bakshi was in line for the top post and the second in line is Southern Army Commander Lt.Gen. P.M. Hariz. There is speculation that Lt. Gen. Bakshi would be accommodated in a different position, probably as the first Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

Government sources said that in the selection and nomination of the Chief of the Army Staff, due process had been followed considering the prevailing security environment and requirements.

They emphasised that the prerogative of selecting the most eligible from the panel of eligible officers is that of the government. The selection was based purely on merit, they said.

They sought to explain that Lt. Gen. Rawat fulfilled these criteria by virtue of his “operational assignments as Commanding Officer of 19 Division in J&K” and “his outstanding track record, familiarity with the functioning of the Army headquarters and Defence Ministry in his capacity as Vice Chief”, and added that “his general dynamism has also played a role in tipping the scales in his favour”.

Lt. Gen. Rawat had taken over as the Vice-Chief on September 1.

‘It is Centre’s prerogative’

Former Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash observed that theoretically all three officers were on the same level. “Yes, the principle of seniority prevents any controversy. But if the government sees some merit in someone, it is their prerogative,” he said.

He said that if merit is going to be the criterion for the selection, then “some ground rules should be laid out by the armed forces to ensure political bias or interference does not come in”.