Indian order of precedence

The order of precedence of the Republic of India is the protocol list[1] (hierarchy of important positions) in which the functionaries, dignitaries and officials are listed according to their rank and office in the Government of India. The order is established by the President of India, through the President's Secretariat and is maintained by the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is only used to indicate ceremonial protocol and has no legal standing and does not reflect the Indian presidential line of succession or the co-equal status of the separation of powers under the constitution. It is not applicable for the day-to-day functioning of the Government of India.

Order

If there are multiple persons of similar ran then they will be listed in alphabetical order. The order of precedence between themselves is determined by the date of entry into that position/rank.[1][2]

Order of precedence of India

Rank	Persons
1	President (Ram Nath Kovind)
2	Vice-President (Venkaiah Naidu)
3	Prime Minister (Narendra Modi)
4	Governors of states (within their respective states)
5	Former Presidents (Pratibha Patil)
5A	Deputy Prime Minister (vacant)[2]
6	Chief Justice (Sharad Arvind Bobde) Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Om Birla)
7	Cabinet ministers of the Government of India Chief ministers of states (within their respective states) Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission (position no longer exists, replaced by NITI Aayog)[lower-alpha 1] Former Prime Ministers (H. D. Deve Gowda, Manmohan Singh) Leaders of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha (Ghulam Nabi Azad) and the Lok Sabha (Vacant)
7A[3]	Holders of the Bharat Ratna (Amartya Sen, Lata Mangeshkar, C. N. R. Rao, Sachin Tendulkar)
8	Ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary and the high commissioners of Commonwealth countries accredited to India Chief ministers of states (when outside their respective states) Governors of states (when outside their respective states)
9	Judges of the Supreme Court of India
9A[3]	Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (Pradeep Kumar Joshi)[4] Chief Election Commissioner (Sunil Arora) Comptroller and Auditor General (Girish Chandra Murmu)
10	Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (Harivansh Narayan Singh) Deputy chief ministers of states Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha (vacant) Members of the Planning Commission (position no longer exists)[lower-alpha 1] Ministers of states of the Union
11	Lieutenant Governors of union territories (within their respective union territories) Attorney General (K. K. Venugopal) Cabinet Secretary (Rajiv Gauba)
12	Chiefs of staff holding the rank of full General or equivalent rank Chief of Defence Staff (General Bipin Rawat) Chief of the Army Staff (General Manoj Mukund Naravane) Chief of the Air Staff (Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria) Chief of the Naval Staff (Admiral Karambir Singh)
13	Envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary accredited to India
14	Chief justices of high courts Chairmen and speakers of state legislatures (within their respective states)
15	Chief ministers of union territories (within their respective union territories) Cabinet ministers in states (within their respective states) Chief Executive Councillor of Delhi (within their respective union territories) (position no longer exists)[lower-alpha 2] Deputy ministers of the union
16	Officiating chiefs of staff holding the rank of lieutenant general or equivalent rank
17	Judges of high courts Chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal Chairman, Minorities Commission Chairman, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission[3]
18	Cabinet ministers in states (outside their respective states) Chairmen and speakers of state legislatures (outside their respective states) Chairman of Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (position no longer exists)[lower-alpha 3] 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 councillors of Delhi (within their respective union territories) Speakers of legislative assemblies in union territories Chairman of Delhi Metropolitan Council (within their respective union territories) (position no longer exists)[lower-alpha 2]
19	Chief commissioners of union territories not having a council of ministers (within their respective union territories) Deputy ministers in states (within their respective states) Deputy speakers of legislative assemblies in union territories Deputy chairman of Delhi Metropolitan Council (within their respective union territories)[lower-alpha 2]
20	Deputy chairmen and deputy speakers of state legislatures (outside their respective states) Ministers of state in states (outside their respective state)
21	Members of Parliament
22	Deputy ministers in states (outside their respective states)
23	Secretaries to the Government of India 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, Minorities Commission Members, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission Secretary, Minorities Commission Secretary, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission Secretary to the President Secretary to the Prime Minister Secretary, Rajya Sabha/Lok Sabha Solicitor General (Tushar Mehta) Vice-Chairman of the Central Administrative Tribunal
24	Lieutenant generals of the Indian Army Air marshals of the Indian Air Force Vice admirals of the Indian Navy
25	Additional secretaries to Government of India Advocates general of states Additional solicitors general Chairman, Tariff Commission Chargé d'affaires and acting high commissioners a pied and ad. interim. Chief ministers of union territories (outside their respective union territories) Chief Executive Councillor of Delhi (outside their respective union territories) (position no longer exists)[lower-alpha 2] Chief secretaries of state governments (outside their respective states) Deputy comptrollers and auditors general Deputy speakers of legislative assemblies in union territories Chairman of Delhi Metropolitan Council (outside their respective union territories) (position no longer exists)[lower-alpha 2] Deputy Chairman of Delhi Metropolitan Council (outside their respective union territories) (position no longer exists)[lower-alpha 2] Director of the Intelligence Bureau (Arvind Kumar) Director, Central Bureau of Investigation Director General, Border Security Force Director General, Central Reserve Police Force Lieutenants governor of union territories (outside their respective union territories) Members, Central Administrative Tribunal Members, Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (position no longer exists)[lower-alpha 3] Members of the Union Public Service Commission and State Public Service Commission.[5] Ministers of union territories and executives councillors of Delhi (position no longer exists)[lower-alpha 2] Principal staff officers of the Armed Forces of the rank of major general or equivalent rank Speakers of legislative assemblies in union territories
26	Joint secretaries to the Government of India Major generals of the Indian Army Rear admirals of the Indian Navy Air vice marshals of the Indian Air Force

Notes

1. The Planning Commission was dissolved by the Government of India in 2014 and was replaced by the NITI Aayog.
2. The Delhi Metropolitan Council was dissolved by the Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and the Chief Executive Councillor of Delhi was replaced by the Chief minister of Delhi and the executive councillors were replaced by government ministers. Whereas, the chairman and deputy chairman of the council were replaced by the speaker and deputy speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly.
3. The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission was replaced by the Competition Commission of India through The Competition Act, 2002.

See also

• Gazetted Officer
• List of office-holders in India

References

1. "President's Secretariat" (PDF). Office of the President of India. Rajya Sabha. 26 August 1979. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
2. "table of precedence".
3. "Ministry of Home". Archived from the original on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
4. PTI (7 August 2020). "Pradeep Kumar Joshi appointed as UPSC chairman". ThePrint. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
5. https://gad.kerala.gov.in/order-precedence

External links

• Order of Precedence of India MHA, India