The Civil Aviation Ministry has decided to exempt the chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force from security checks at airports across the country.

The Ministry reversed its earlier stance that exempting them would lead to similar demands from others, with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel saying that it is “appropriate to give exemption to those who defend our borders”.

Earlier this year, the Defence Ministry had sent a request that the three service chiefs should be included in the list of persons exempted from frisking at airports, considering their stature and seniority. However, in its reply, the Civil Aviation Ministry had said that an exemption would lead to “similar demands” from other authorities.

However, on Thursday, the Minister said: “We have a committee which goes into all such issues before taking a decision...only the three service chiefs have been included... there is no question of opening a Pandora’s box on the issue.”

Sources say the Defence Ministry had raised the issue after an incident last year when the then Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi, was frisked at the international airport in New Delhi. After months of evasive replies, the Civil Aviation Ministry ruled that the three chiefs need to follow security procedures at all airports.

The current list of people exempted from security checks include judges of Supreme Court, Governors, Ambassadors of Indian missions, Chief Ministers and even Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra (when travelling with SPG protectees).