New Delhi: Some political leaders are demanding that the government dismiss the army chief, General VK Singh. A letter from him to the Prime Minister, citing huge deficiencies in the army's equipment, was leaked to the media. This has become what many believe is the breaking point in a heavily-frayed relationship between the General and the government. Here are 10 big developments:
1) New flashpoint after letter by Army Chief to Prime Minister is leaked to media. Dated March 12, the letter says that Army is constrained by out-dated technology, air defence "is 97% obsolete" and army tanks are "devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks"
2) Government believes Army Chief's office responsible for leak. Defence Minister lashes out in Parliament, says these should not be matters of public debate. He said publishing "secret communication within government cannot serve our national security."
3) Opposition leaders agree. Left's Sitaram Yechury says government must identify the person responsible for the leak. He says "responsibility will have to be fixed and action be taken...irrespective of the position they may hold in the defence forces or the civilian administration. " Shivanand Tiwari of Janta Dal (United) says, Army chief should be "removed from his post" for inappropriate behaviour. Lalu Prasad Yadav says the army chief has begun talking like someone who wants to contest elections and must be dismissed. Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajawadi Party says General Singh "is talking too much."
4) Prime Minister meets Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram this morning. They brief him about the letter that has been leaked as well as the other huge controversy born from the army chief's disclosure that he was offered a bribe of 14 crores in 2010.
5) The Defence Minister said in Parliament yesterday that the Army chief had told him that a retired officer, Lt General Tejinder Singh had visited him in 2010 and offered him a kickback. The minister said he asked the Army chief to take action, but General Singh said he did not want to pursue the matter.
6) In an interview on Tuesday, General Singh had tried to explain why the offer of the bribe did not prompt any action from him other than passing on the information to the Defence Minister. "It was not like he was giving me bribe in my hand. This was an indirect method and that is why no arrest was made," he said yesterday.
7) Tejinder Singh has sued the Army chief for defamation. He says that though he visited the Army chief in September 2010, he did not offer him any money. He says he asked the Army chief to consider making him the chief of the NTRO or National Technical Research Organisation, a highly specialised technical intelligence gathering agency. General Singh's supporters point out he did not sanction that appointment.
8) Tejinder Singh was accused by the army earlier this month of offering bribers on behalf of Tatra and Vetra which supply the Army with trucks used to transport artillery and troops. The General has described the trucks as "sub-standard" in an interview this week.
9) Documents with NDTV show that Tatra trucks are over-priced- they cost 40-50 lakhs in Europe but 7000 of them were bought by the army at double that price. The trucks were sold via a defence public sector unit, BEML. Several analysts say that they have performed poorly.
10) Army chief scheduled to retire at end of May. He became first serving military chief to take government to court. He wanted the government to accept that he was born in 1951 and not 1950. Army records show both, but the government says that his seniority and promotions have been based on 1950 as his year of birth, and that records cannot be amended now. General Singh withdrew his petition against the government after the Supreme Court indicated it would not agree with his arguments. The General was widely criticised for turning his differences with the government into a public battle. He said he was fighting to defend his honour and integrity.
Some leaders ask for Army Chief's removal: 10 big facts
