Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, Home Secretary Govind Mohan get one-year service extension

The Centre on Wednesday extended the tenures of Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan and Home Secretary Govind Mohan by one year, allowing both senior bureaucrats to continue in their posts beyond their scheduled retirement dates.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the extension of Somanathan's tenure for a further period of one year beyond August 30, 2026, according to an order issued by the Personnel Ministry.

A 1987-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, Somanathan was appointed Cabinet Secretary in August 2024 for a two-year term.


In a separate order, the ACC also approved a one-year extension in the service of Home Secretary Govind Mohan beyond August 22, 2026, allowing him to continue in office till August 22, 2027.

Mohan, a 1989-batch IAS officer of the Sikkim cadre, took over as Home Secretary in August 2024.

The extension has been granted by relaxing the provisions of Fundamental Rule 56(d) and Rule 16(1A) of the All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958.

The rules allow the Centre to extend the tenure of certain key officials beyond the retirement age of 60 years, including the Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary, Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary, the Director of the Intelligence Bureau and the Secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).