Lieutenant General’s tenure cut short by 4 months

In a first, the army has cut short the tenure of a serving lieutenant general by four months by retiring him with immediate effect without any prior notice.

Army’s military secretariat branch, which deals with postings, retirements and promotions, has cited tenure clause as the reason.

The affected party, Lt Gen JK Srivastav, director general of the Remounted Veterinary Service (RVS) has approached armed forces tribunal (AFT) principal bench in Delhi for redressal.

DNA has learnt that the letter has been signed by Lt Gen GM Nair who had also signed Lt Gen Srivastav’s earlier letter dated August 13, 2010, intimating him that he would retire on June 30, 2011.Srivastav was elevated as a lieutenant general on February24, 2009, and was issued a letter on April 6, 2009 saying he would serve till the age of 61 years.

Lt Gen Srivastav was on temporary duty in Gujarat when he received a phone call on February 22 evening asking him to return to Delhi in order to collect his retirement letter.

Without collecting the letter, the officer approached the AFT on February 23 itself to obtain a stay. As the government counsel was not aware of the move, the tribunal termed the entire event as “fraud”. The letter was handed over to the officer at 5 pm on February 23.