New Delhi: Defence Ministry has taken Election Commission's approval for appointment of a new Navy chief after Admiral DK Joshi resigned on moral grounds after frequent mishaps in the force.
EC has given its approval to the Government to go ahead with the appointment, Defence Ministry officials said.
The permission was sought by the Ministry in view of the Model Code of Conduct in force for the Lok Sabha elections, they said.
The need for appointing the new chief came up suddenly after Joshi quit on February 26.
The Government has formed a panel of five officers including Vice Admirals Shekhar Sinha (Western Command chief), R K Dhowan (Vice chief), Anil Chopra (Eastern Command chief), Satish Soni (Southern Command chief) and S P S Cheema (Strategic Forces Command chief) for the appointment.
The Ministry is in the process of carrying out background checks necessary for the appointment of services chiefs and the files are being processed, they said.
