Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Another succession storm brewing in Indian Army

It is again going to be an all out war for the top post of the Indian Army. As top army officer Lt Gen Ravi Dastane is contemplating to move the court over stalling of his appointment as the Eastern Army Commander the incumbent Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is bracing to file a Caveat petition.

 Lt Gen Ravi Dastane

Four months ago the Indian Army had put an ugly year-long age-controversy between the Army Chief General VK Singh and the Defence Ministry behind it. But, the clashes in the top brass over promotion are again haunting the 1.1 million-strong Indian Army.

The current episode has its roots in the age controversy of the previous Indian Army Chief General VK Singh. General VK Singh on his last day in the office had imposed a Disciplinary and Vigilance (DV) ban on Lt Gen Suhag – at that time the 3 Corps Commander. This technically made Lt Gen Suhag ineligible as Eastern Army Commander; the post fell vacant after General Bikram Singh moved in as the Indian Army Chief.
Lt Gem Dalbir Singh Suhag

The ineligibility of Lt Gen Suhag to get elevated meant that next senior officer in line - Lt Gen Dastane would have been appointed the Eastern Army Commander and would have been in line to become the Army Chief after incumbent General Bikram Singh retired. However, the Defence Ministry and Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) waited for General VK Singh to retire and General Bikram Singh to take over following which the DV ban was lifted and Lt Gen Suhag was given the charge of the Eastern Army Command.

 General Bikram Singh joins hand with Antony?

Presently Lt Gen Dastane’s statutory complaint against stalling of his appointment as Eastern Army Commander is still pending with the Defence Ministry. After it is disposed of Lt Gen Dastane is all geared up to move the court. Sources close to Lt Gen Suhag have indicated that the army commander is also gearing up for filing a Caveat petition so that the court also hears his arguments before passing a judgment in the case. The Defence Ministry is also going to throw its weight behind the Eastern Army Commander.

Lt Gen Dastane had earlier gone to the Army Chief with his complaint. But it was turned down by the force saying the decision was taken by ACC and the Indian Army had no role to play in it.  And the Defence Ministry’s stand was that the DV ban imposed by General VK Singh was aimed at tweaking the traditional seniority-based succession line in the force.

Sources also indicate that technically Lt Gen Dastane might be on a strong ground as he is claiming that imposition of DV ban was an individual officer’s problem and the system should have taken its own course as per norms.

Earlier this year in January, General (retired) VK Singh had dragged the government to the court claiming he was a year younger than as maintained by the Defence Ministry that effectively curtailed his tenure as the Army Chief by a year.

1 comment:

  1. gen Dastane should gracefully accept the decision.
    as a General he must have sat on the boards of many cols , brigs and maj gens. His heart knows justice was not done to many of them . He was the party to the many undeserved promotions . general Suhag is a special forces general and perhaps the govt thinks to shape its policy he is better suited. BY going to court is the general going to support all officers who are not promoted to approach the tribunals.A TRUE DEDEICATED SOLDER MUST ACCEPT THE DECESION WITH GRACE EVEN IF IT IS WRONG OR OTHERWISE THE INDIAN OFFICER AND JAWAN WILL QUESTION EACH AND EVERY COMMAND OF THE GEN OFFICERS IN BATTLE AND THAT WOULD BE SAD DAY.IT WOULD BE BETTER TO RETIRE GRACEFULLY THAN COMBAT A UNWILLING BEUREUCRACY AND POLITICAL SETUP WHICH WILL ERODE HIS ATHORITHY WITH THE ARMY ACCOMPLISHING LITTLE OR NO MODERNISATION .

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