New Delhi: The tenure of General Manoj Pande, Chief of Army Staff, was on Sunday extended for a period of one month.
He was due to retire from service on May 31, after a 25-month tenure.
“The Appointments Committee of Cabinet on May 26 approved the extension in service of Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj C Pande for a period of one month, beyond his normal age of superannuation (May 31), i.e. up to June 30, under Rule 16 A (4) of the Army Rules 1954,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
The decision may have been influenced by the fact that the two seniormost officers after General Pande are also due for superannuation, in June.
General Pande, commissioned in December 1982 in the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers), served as Chief of the Eastern Army Command in his military career of more than four decades.
He was Vice-Chief of the Army Staff, before taking charge of the 1.2 million-strong force in April 2022.
