Defence Ministry rejects Army Chief’s plea on age

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 30
Rejecting the Army chief General VK Singh’s statutory complaint seeking an amendment to his date of birth, the Ministry of Defence has made it clear that it would not disturb the status quo at this stage. General VK Singh retires in five months from now - in May 2012. The Army Chief has the option of a legal recourse.
The opinion of the ministry has been conveyed to Defence Minister AK Antony who will then forward the same to the Army chief, sources said tonight.
In August, General VK Singh had filed a 500-page statutory complaint with the Defence Minister seeking a re-examination of his date of birth. The Army Chief in his complaint had asked the minister take a decision on his date of birth purely on the basis of merit and available evidence.
The compliant was the consequence of an order issued by the ministry on July 22. It declared that the year of General Singh’s birth was 1950 and not 1951 as he had claimed.
The ministry in its latest decision has attached the observations of Attorney General GE Vahanvati on the issue. The Attorney General had said there could be no change in Army chief’s date of birth.
He had opined that the chief’s complaint filed under the Army Act was not maintainable. The matriculation certificate could not be the sole basis changing date of birth at this stage.
The controversy on VK Singh’s age surfaced in 2008 when he was considered for appointment as the Eastern Army Commander. The Adjutant General's branch - the official record keeper for salary and pension - has been following 1951 as Singh’s DoB, while the Military Secretary branch, which looks after promotions and postings, shows it as 1950.
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