Regulations
The regulations of the PVC were set out in The gazette of India the day the award was established, 26 January 1950, as follows:
First: The decoration shall be in form of a medal and styled and designated the Param Vir Chakra (hereinafter referred as the Chakra).
Second: The medal shall be circular in shape, made of bronze, one and three-eighth inches [35 mm] in diameter, and shall have embossed on the obverse, four replicas of Indra's Vajra with the state emblem embossed in the centre. On the reverse, it shall have embossed Param Vir Chakra, both in Hindi and English, with two lotus flowers between the inscriptions. A sealed pattern of the decoration shall be deposited and kept.
Third: The medal shall be suspended from the left breast by a plain purple-coloured ribbon of one and a quarter inches [32 mm] in width; on those occasions when only the ribbon is worn, a replica of Indra's Vajra in miniature shall be fixed in the centre of the ribbon.
Fourth: The Chakra is awarded for most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self sacrifice, in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea, or in the air.
Fifth: The Chakra may also be awarded posthumously.
Sixth: The distinction shall be conferred by the President.
Seventh: The names of those persons upon or on account of whom the decoration may be conferred shall be published in The Gazette of India, and a Register thereof kept under the directions of the President.
Eighth:
(a) Officers, men and women of all ranks of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, of any of the Reserve Forces, of the Territorial Army, Militia and of any other lawfully constituted Armed Forces.
(b) Matrons, Sisters, Nurses and the staff of the Nursing Services and other Services pertaining to Hospitals and Nursing and Civilians of either sex serving regularly or temporarily under the orders, directions or supervision of any of the above-mentioned Forces.
Ninth: If any recipient of the Chakra shall again perform such an act of bravery as would have made him or her eligible to receive the Chakra, such further act of bravery shall be recorded by a bar to be attached to the ribbon by which the Chakra is suspended, and for every such additional act of bravery an additional bar shall be added, and any such bar or bars may also be awarded posthumously. For every bar awarded, a replica of Indra's Vajra in miniature shall be added to the ribbon when worn alone.
Tenth: The miniature decoration, which may be worn on certain occasions by those to whom the decoration is awarded, shall be half the size of the Chakra and a sealed pattern of the said miniature decoration shall be deposited and kept.
Eleventh: Every recipient of the Chakra being or ranking junior in rank to that of Sub-Lieutenant in the case of the Navy, Second Lieutenant in the case of the Army, and Pilot Officer in the case of the Air Force, shall, from the date of the act by which the decoration has been gained, be entitled to a special pension, and each additional bar shall carry with it additional pension for life at such rates as the President may prescribe. On the death of the recipient of the Chakra to whom the clause applies, the pension shall be continued to his widow until her death or remarriage under such rules as may be prescribed by the President.
Twelfth: This Chakra shall rank first among all awards.
Thirteenth: The President may cancel and annul the award of the Chakra to any person together with any pension appertaining thereto not already paid, and thereupon his or her name in the register shall be erased and he or she shall be required to surrender his or her insignia; but it shall be competent for the President to restore the decoration when such cancellation and annulment has subsequently been withdrawn, and with it such pension as may have been forfeited.
Last: Notice of cancellation or restoration in every case shall be published in The Gazette of India.
An amendment to the above regulations on 26 January 1980 saw Clause 12 deleted, and the remaining clauses renumbered accordingly.