Suhag should reply to notice rather than going to media: Army Chief

Denying any infighting in top brass of the Indian Army, Army Chief General VK Singh on Friday said that the show cause notice to Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag – slated to take over as Army Chief in 2014, is a routine matter and his junior officer was not justified in “brandishing” it to the media.

Asked if the show cause notice was his “personnel vendetta” against senior Army officer, General Singh told the Defence Express: “Let me tell you some hard facts about the show cause notice. It sent on certain grounds from a senior officer to a junior officer. It is the moral duty of the junior officer to reply to the show cause notice rather than going and brandishing it to the media.”

The General was speaking on the sidelines of a book release function. The book is called “Assault of merit” and chronicles various cases of decorated officers being superseded or short-changed by an insensitive bureaucracy and civil government.

The show cause notice issued by the Army Chief just a week before his retirement has raised quite a few eyebrows in the defence establishment. The incumbent General Officer in Commanding of Dimapur-based 3 Corps, Lt Gen Suhag has been alleged of “abdicating responsibility” in handling an intelligence and surveillance unit in a “most unprofessional and lackadaisical manner”.

Lt Gen Suhag has six days to reply to this show cause notice.

The General has also sought to put a Disciplinary and Vigilance ban on Suhag that will stall his appointment as the Eastern Army Commander after the incumbent and Chief-designate Lt Gen Bikram Singh moves to New Delhi to take over the reins of the 1.2 million-strong Indian Army. In reply to a query that the show cause notice will impinge of the Army’s line of succession, the General remarked: “There is no line of succession in the Indian Army.”

This was the second time that Lt Gen Suhag has come under fired from the Army Chief. Earlier General Singh in his CBI complaint has accused the Lt Gen of misappropriation of funds in purchase of parachutes while heading the Special Frontier Force (SFF) and has requested a probe against him. The accusation came even as the Army Head Quarter under him recommended Lt Gen Suhag for the same post. The Cabinet Secretariat later turned down the request for inquiry as saying the alleged procurement had not been done.

However, the Ministry of Defence - that so far has refrained from interfering in the matter - is said to have taken “cognizance” of the issue. The Defence Ministry says that there has been a precedence of a succeeding Army Chief lifting a DV ban put by his predecessor. Former army chief General Deepak Kapoor had put a DV ban against present Deputy Army Chief Lt Gen RS Halgali only to be revoked by General Singh. General Singh in fact cleared his appointment as Deputy Army Chief.

The Army Chief, who will hang his boots on May 31 after 42 years of eventful and controversy-riddled carrier, also dismissed suggestions of “infighting” amongst the top echelons of the force. “There is no infighting in the Army. Lots of things are unnecessary blown up by the media,” General Singh added. Earlier this year in an interview, the Chief had blown up the lid from the Tatra scam and has alleged that army chiefs before him had taken money.

The Army Chief also dared Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh to produce any evidence whatsoever about the General intercepting the phone calls of the Defence Minister AK Antony and Congress president Sonia Gandhi at the peak of the age controversy.”Tell Tejinder Singh to not to spread lies. If he has the evidence, ask him to produce it.”