Antony blames Army, Gen Singh agrees

Age Row
Antony blames Army, Gen Singh agrees
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 31
Just days ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on the petition filed by Army Chief General VK Singh, who is seeking a correction in his date of birth, Defence Minister AK Antony today squarely blamed the Army for the whole mess. The General agreed with him and said the administrative branch of the Army is responsible for his age row.
In his first detailed comments on the raging issue, Antony said the controversy erupted because the Army kept two sets of his (Singh’s) date of birth for 36 years, maintaining there was no civil-military confrontation.
He suggested that the government had no role to play in the whole issue as this discrepancy was first noticed in 2006 by the Army headquarters and reconciled at that level then and later in 2008 by two respective chiefs. “For 36 years, the government was not in the picture. The two branches of the same institution maintained two dates of birth,” the Defence Minister told reporters on sidelines of an awards function here.
Antony also made it clear yet again that the Supreme Court verdict on the controversy surrounding the Army Chief’s date of birth will be final. “Let's wait for the Supreme Court decision. That will be final and nobody can question that," he said.
At a separate function, the Army Chief said the Defence Minister was ‘right’ in noting that the Army was responsible for the entire controversy.
When asked to comment on the Antony's statement and that if the 'original sin' on the issue was committed within the force, Singh said: “Absolutely, it is within the Army. After 36 years, you suddenly decide to come up with an issue. There is something wrong with it.”
Gen Singh, however, rejected suggestions that there has been a delay on part of the Army to respond to the Defence Ministry's latest letter on his age issue, saying everything does not happen "with the press of a button". The General also gave assurance to fellow officers that the problem of varying DoB in records will not recur ever in the future. “There was some problem in coordination between the branch that keeps all the service records and other branches. Now a system has been put in place to resolve it," he said.

The Army has two sets of records related to General Singh's dates of birth leading to the controversy and forcing the Army Chief to move the apex court to resolve the issue. The Adjutant General Branch, the official record keeper in the Army, maintains the General’s date of birth as May 10, 1951; in the Military Secretary Branch, the Army Chief’s date of birth is May 10, 1950.