Orders of precedence |
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India |
The Order of precedence of the Republic of India is the protocol list[1] (hierarchy of important positions) in which the functionaries and officials are listed according to their rank and office in the Government of India. The order is established by the President of the India, through the Office of the President of India and is maintained by the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is only used to indicate ceremonial protocol and has no legal standing; it does not reflect the India's presidential line of succession or the co-equal status of the separation of powers under the Constitution.
Also included below is the Warrant of Precedence (WoP)[2] compiled from a joint consideration of the existing Central Warrant of Precedence (which is till the rank of Major General) and Warrant of Precedence of the year 1937, as per Ministry of Home Affairs {MHA} directions contained in Letter No 12/11/99-Pub II dated 26 Dec 1966, the validity of whichhas been confirmed by Letter No 12/1/2007-Public dated 14 Aug 2007. The MHA has confirmed in 2007 that the Old Warrant of Precedence shall be taken as a guide to determine ranks below the ones mentioned in the current WoP.
| Rank | Persons |
|---|---|
| 1 | President of India (Pratibha Patil) |
| 2 | Vice-President of India (Mohammad Hamid Ansari) |
| 3 | Prime Minister of India (Manmohan Singh) |
| 4 | Governors of states (within their respective states) |
| 5 | Former Presidents of India (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam), Deputy Prime Minister |
| 6 | Chief Justice of India (Hon'ble Shri Justice S. H. Kapadia), Speaker of Lok Sabha (Meira Kumar) |
| 7 | Former Prime Ministers of India (Atal Bihari Vajpayee, H. D. Deve Gowda, Inder Kumar Gujral), Cabinet Ministers of the Union, Leaders of Chief Opposition in the Rajya Sabha (Arun Jaitley) and Lok Sabha (Sushma Swaraj), Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission of India (Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Chief Ministers of States (within their respective states), Holders of the Bharat Ratna decoration |
| 8 | Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and High Commissioners of the Commonwealth of Nations accredited to India, Governors of states (outside their respective states), Chief Ministers of states (outside their respective states) |
| 9 | Judges of the Supreme Court of India, Comptroller and Auditor General of India (Vinod Rai), Chief Election Commissioner of India (S. Y. Quraishi), Chairman of Union Public Service Commission (D. P. Agrawal) |
| 10 | Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, Members of the Planning Commission, Deputy Chief Ministers of States, Ministers of State of the Union (and any other Minister in the Ministry of Defence for defence matters) |
| 11 | Attorney General of India, Cabinet Secretary (currently A. K. Seth), Lieutenant Governors (within their respective Union Territories) |
| 12 | Chiefs of staff holding the rank of full General or equivalent rank (Air Chief Marshal, Admiral) |
| 13 | Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary accredited to India |
| 14 | Chairman and Speakers of State Legislatures within their respective States, Chief Justices of High Courts within their respective jurisdictions |
| 15 | Cabinet Ministers in States within their respective States, Chief Ministers of Union Territories and Chief Executive Councillor of Delhi, within their respective Union Territories, Deputy Ministers of the Union |
| 16 | Officiating Chiefs of Staff holding the rank of Lieutenant General or equivalent rank |
| 17 | Chairman of Central Administrative Tribunal, Chairman of Minorities Commission, Chairman of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission, Chief Justice of High Courts outside their respective jurisdictions, Puissant Judges of High Courts within their respective jurisdictions |
| 18 | Cabinet Ministers in States outside their respective States, Chairmen and Speakers of State Legislatures outside their respective States, Chairmen of Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission, Deputy Chairmen and Deputy Speakers of State Legislatures within their respective States,
Ministers of State in States within their respective States, Ministers of Union Territories and Executive Councilor of Delhi within their respective Union Territories, Speakers of Legislative Assemblies in Union Territories and Chairman of Delhi Metropolitan Council within their respective Union Territories |
| 19 | Chief Commissioners of Union Territories not having Councils of Ministers, within their respective Union Territories, Deputy Ministers in States within their respective States, Deputy Speakers of Legislative Assemblies in Union Territories and Deputy Chairman of Metropolitan Council Delhi within their respective Union Territories |
| 20 | Deputy Chairman & Deputy Speakers of State Legislatures, outside their respective States, Ministers of State in States outside their respective States, |
| 21 | Members of Parliament |
| 22 | Deputy Ministers in States outside their respective States |
| 23 | Army Commanders/Vice Chief of the Army Staff or equivalent in other Services, Chief Secretaries to State Governments within their respective States, Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Members of Minorities Commission, Members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission, Officers of the rank of full General or equivalent rank, Secretaries to the Government of India (including officers holding this office ex-officio), Secretary of Minorities Commission, Secretary of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission, Secretary to the President, Secretary to the Prime Minister, Secretary to Rajya Saba/Lok Saba, Solicitor General of India, Vice-Chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal |
| 24 | Officers of the rank of Lieutenant-General, Vice-Admiral or Air Marshal |
| 25 | Additional Secretaries to the Government of India, Additional Solicitor General, Advocate Generals of States, Chairman, Tariff Commission, Charge d’ Affairs and Acting High Commissioners a pied and ad interim, Chief Ministers of Union Territories and Chief Executive Councillor, Delhi outside their respective Union Territories, Chief Secretaries of State Governments outside their respective States, Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General, Deputy Speakers of Legislative Assemblies in Union Territories and Deputy Chairman, Delhi Metropolitan Council, outside their respective Union Territories, Director, Central Bureau of Investigation,
Director General, Border Security Force, Director General, Central Reserve Police, Director, Intelligence Bureau, Lieutenant Governors outside their respective Union Territories, Members, Central Administrative Tribunal, Members, Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission, Members, Union Public Service Commission, Ministers of Union Territories and Executive Councillors, Delhi, outside their respective territories, Principal Staff Officers of Maj. Gen equivalent, Speakers of Legislative Assemblies in Union Territories and Chairman of Delhi, Metropolitan Council, outside their respective Union Territories.[3] |
| 26 | Joint Secretaries to the Government of India, Officers of the rank of Major-General, Rear-Admiral or Air Vice-Marshal..[4] |