The General Retreats

New Delhi, Feb 10, 2012: Indian Army Chief General VK Singh on Friday retreated in his battle of age after suffering a blow in the Supreme Court. On the other hand a vindicated Ministry of Defence expressed its delight on the resolution of the controversy that has been plaguing the Indian defence establishment for nearly a year now.

The Defence Ministry would now be asking the Indian Army’s Adjutant Branch to amend its records to reflect the Army Chief’s date of birth as May 10, 1950 by which he will be retiring on May 31. The branch had earlier refused to execute the government’s orders on two occasions, the latest being on Jan 23.

The veteran of war General Singh gave in during the second round of his age battle as he informed the Supreme Court that he did not wish to press the charges further and withdrew the writ petition even before it was admitted by the Court.  General Singh was the first serving chief of the Indian Armed Forces to move the court against the Civil Government, his appointing authority.

What weakened the Chief’s stand was that the UPSC form for admission into the National Defence Academy and later the form in Indian Military Academy (IMA) reflected his year of birth as 1950. The Chief later in 2008 also accepted 1950 as his year of birth in writing “in organizational interest”.

Despite the setback, sources indicate that the Chief is unlikely to resign and will retire as scheduled on May 31 as his “honour and integrity” has been redeemed after the government stated so on the record in the court.

His lawyer Puneet Bali said: “Now the air has been cleared on the issue. The AG (Advocate General) in a detailed statement said that the government has full faith in the honesty and integrity of the Chief.”

The government also expressed satisfaction at the settlement of the issue by the court. “We are happy that the issue has been finally resolved and the controversy has been put to rest,” defence spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said.

Defence Minister AK Antony, who being upset at General Singh’s unparallel step had decided to fight the battle in the court, had ruled out options of any compromise on the row. The Defence Ministry that always maintained a deafening silence on the issue publicly would be taking time to announce the next Chief. The Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Bikram Singh remains the front-runner amongst the candidates, even as speculations are rife about the chances of Lt Gen SR Ghosh, the Western Army Commander, who will become the senior-most army officer if the incumbent Chief decides to resign.

What turn the row – that was pegged as the fight between the Army and the civil bureaucracy – will take, would be clear in the coming days. However, a section of retired and serving Army officers have been opining that following the development in the Supreme Court, General Singh should resign.

Their arguments stem from the fact that even as the government withdrew its December 30, 2011 order after the Court termed the process of arriving at the order as “vitiated”, its order of July 22, 2011 that determined the Chief’s date of birth as May 10, 1950 still stands.

The fight for reducing his age by a year as against what has been determined by the Defence Ministry in two orders in 2011, had pushed the General to take the unprecedented step of dragging the Union of India to the apex court on January 16, a day after hosting the who’s who of the government at his home on the occasion of the Army Day.