The government has hardened its stand on the Army chief General VK Singh date of birth row. According to sources in the ministry of defence, the government has decided to take on army chief in Supreme Court and ruled out any out of the court settlement with the General.
Though the final decision on withdrawing December 30 order of the ministry of defence in reply to General Singh’s statutory complaint has not been taken so far, sources indicated that government has prepared a strong legal defence for itself. Sources said even the Prime Minister’s Officer has also been informed about the ministry of defence stand.
However the ministry of defence officials refrained from commenting on its future course of action by saying that “matter is sub judice”.
Supreme Court in its February 3 hearing has categorically said the government had violated the principles of natural justice in the manner that it rejected General’s statutory appeal. The judges had made it clear that they were not commenting on whether the government’s decision was correct. They objected to the way in which that decision had been reached.
The court said the government had used the opinion of the same legal officer — Attorney General GE Vahanvati — to twice rule against the General.
In July, Vahanvati advised the government that the chief’s petition to accept 1951 as his date of birth was not valid; in December, the defence minister rejected the chief’s complaint against that decision.
In his petition, the Army chief says the government has mistakenly rejected his requests to change its records, accepting that he was born in 1951 and not 1950.
General Singh says that several crucial documents establish that he tried at various points in his career to have his records amended to reflect the correct date of birth, but was turned down.
The government counters that he accepted several key promotions, including the one that gave him the top job in the Army, on the basis of his seniority as established by records that show he was born in 1950.
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