Chiefs Of Naval Staff: India
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Name Tenure
Rear Admiral J.T.S. Hall ................................................... 15 August 1947-14 August 1948
Admiral Sir Edward Parry ............................................... 15 August 1948-13 October 1951
Admiral Sir Mark Pizey .................................................... 14 October 1951-21 July 1955
Vice Admiral Sir Stephen Carlill ..................................... 22 July 1955-21 April 1958
Vice Admiral R.D. Katari .................................................. 22 April 1958-4 June 1962
Vice Admiral B.S. Soman.................................................. 5 June 1962-3 March 1966
Admiral A.K. Chatterjee ................................................... 4 March 1966-27 February 1970
Admiral S.M. Nanda ......................................................... 28 February 1970-28 February 1973
Admiral S.N. Kohli ............................................................ 1 March 1973-28 February 1976
Admiral J.L. Cursetji ......................................................... 1 March 1976-28 February 1979
Admiral R.L. Pereira ......................................................... 1 March 1979-28 February 1982
Admiral O.S. Dawson ....................................................... 1 March 1982-30 November 1984
Admiral R.H. Tahiliani ..................................................... 1 December 1984-30 November 1987
Admiral J.G. Nadkarni ..................................................... 1 December 1987-30 November 1990
Admiral L. Ramdas ........................................................... 1 December 1990-30 September 1993
Admiral V.S. Shekhawat ................................................... 1 October 1993-30 September 1996
Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat................................................. 1 October 1996-30 December 1998
Admiral Sushil Kumar...................................................... 31 December 1998 - 29 December 2001
Admiral Madhvendra Singh............................................ 29 December 2001 - 31 July 2004
Admiral Arun Prakash ..................................................... 1 August 2004 - 30 October 2006
Admiral Sureesh Mehta .................................................... 31 August 2006 - 31 August 2009
Admiral Nirmal Verma ..................................................... 31 August 2009-
Trends in appointment
Superseding the seniority principle, 2014
The Times of India’’, December 18, 2016
Vice-Admiral Shekhar Sinha was superseded by Admiral Robin Dhowan to become Navy chief in April 2014 after the then chief Admiral D K Joshi resigned taking moral responsibility after a string of warship accidents.
The opposition immediately attacked the Centre for “further politicising“ the armed forces, which are justifiably proud of their apolitical and secular credentials, after it first went to town over the “surgical strikes“ against terror launch pads in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir.
Official sources rejected the criticism and asserted that the selection of the army chief was determined by an objective analysis of who was best suited for the country's current security requirements.
“It is wrong to say that anyone was bypassed. However, after a scrutiny General Rawat, with his experience on LOC in J&K and the LAC was deemed to be most suitable for the country's security requirement at a time when the threat from Pakistan and China has increased. It's not a reflection on anybody else,“ said a senior government functionary .
But conversely , some experts say , military chiefs are meant to oversee the management of national security and strategy in tune with what has been decided by the top political executive.
“It's actually the ease of doing business. So, the political executive should have no constraints while choosing who it wants to be the next military chief, RBI governor or foreign secretary. That's does not mean that the ones overlooked are less competent,“ said a senior expert.