Ending the suspense over the appointment of the next IndianAir Force chief, the government on Thursday announced that Air Marshal RKSBhadauria will take up the top job after Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa retires onSeptember 30.

Currently, Bhadauria is the air force’s vice chief. Theofficer, affectionately called ‘Chotu’ in air force circles, led thenegotiations for the Rs 59,000-crore Rafale deal.

“Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria was commissioned into the fighterstream of the IAF in June 1980, and has held various command, staff andinstructional appointments at various levels,” a defence ministry statementsaid.

Had he not been appointed IAF chief, Bhadauria would haveretired on September 30. It is rare for top officers to be promoted as servicechiefs on the day of their retirement but making the top appointments is thegovernment’s prerogative, two senior officers said on the condition ofanonymity.Air Marshals B Suresh and R Nambiar were among the contenders for thetop post.

Traditionally, service chiefs have been appointed on thebasis of seniority – the officer who is senior-most officer on the day a chief retiresis named his successor.

While seniority is usually followed when a new service chiefis named, there have been instances when the government has overlooked it. Forinstance, when General Bipin Rawat was named army chief in December 2016, theNational Democratic Alliance government superseded two lieutenant generals whowere senior to Rawat. Also Admiral Karambir Singh superseded a senior officerto become chief on May 31.

When Manohar Parrikar was defence minister, he had famouslydefended the government’s decision to name Rawat army chief, arguing that ifseniority was the only criterion guiding the government in its choice, then thecomputer could have selected a service chief on the basis of date of birth andthere was no need to follow a rigourous procedure spanning months, analyseIntelligence Bureau reports of candidates or seek the approval of theAppointments Committee of the Cabinet.