Army weighs rebuttal to age order

New Delhi, July 25: The army is likely to refuse to accept the Centre’s order to reconcile the records on the date of birth of its chief, General V.K. Singh.

But Gen. V.K. Singh is not seeking an extension of tenure even if the government accepts that he was born a year later than the date that the defence ministry believes is true.

Defence minister A.K. Antony’s order to the army last Thursday that it should “settle” the date of birth of its chief at May 10, 1950 — and not May 10, 1951 — is now set to spiral from a tiff over Gen. V.K. Singh’s records to, first, an army-versus-government scenario and, second, the much larger issue of the rules and conditions of government service.

“This is not an issue of tenure, but of probity and honour of the army chief,” one officer said.

The dispute in the army is because of a mismatch in the data between the adjutant general’s (AG) branch (which records the chief’s birth date and year as May 10, 1951) and the military secretary’s (MS) branch (that records it as May 10, 1950). The AG’s branch is the keeper of personnel records and the MS’s branch is in charge of postings and promotions.

The dispute emerged from the year 2006 and was exploited in the politics between generals and also involved officers who are facing courts martial over the Sukna land transfer case.

But what was till now a general-versus-general situation is morphing into a general-versus-government battle. The age of officers is an important determinant for promotions. Planning for the army chief begins at least three years before an officer is elevated to the office.

Lt Gen. Bikram Singh, currently the Eastern Army Commander in Fort William, Calcutta, is likely to be the next chief after Gen. V.K. Singh retires in May next year. Should Gen. V.K. Singh’s term be extended by a year, Lt Gen. K.T. Parnaik, currently the Northern Army Commander based in Udhampur, may get a look-in.

Gen. V.K. Singh took over as the Chief of Army Staff on March 31, 2010, after being approved by the cabinet committee on appointments headed by the Prime Minister. He is due to retire in May 2012.

The two-page notification that the ministry of defence gave to army headquarters last week cites advice given by the attorney-general, G.E. Vahanvati, and the law ministry and asks the army to accept that Gen. V.K. Singh was born in 1950.

Army headquarters is now contemplating seeking a judicial review of the government’s order. Before the government order, the army had consulted at least three former chief justices of the Supreme Court, each of whom accepted that Gen. V.K. Singh’s matriculation certificate — in which his date of birth is recorded as May 10, 1951 — should be the basis for all his records.

One source in the defence establishment pointed out that there were Supreme Court orders that state the matriculation certificate should be the basis for determining the age of a citizen.

The officer explained that despite this, the defence ministry had asked the army to accept the chief’s year of birth as 1950.

“This is an ‘unlawful command’ in army language,” the officer said, “and therefore there is a right of rejection.”

But another officer said the chief’s promotions and elevation to the highest post were on the basis of the 1950 date of birth and not the 1951 date of birth.

The officer said that the chief had also said in writing that he would not stoke the controversy.

Since 2006, Gen. V.K. Singh has made several requests for the records to be reconciled. On one occasion, asked if he had sought a change in his date of birth, Gen. V.K. Singh wrote “no” because he was seeking a “correction and not a change”.