Young officers cheer General V K Singh while seniors give guarded response

[KS]

Wary of setback in SC, govt sends feelers to Gen VK Singh

Frantic parleys dominated the day on Wednesday with the UPA government sending feelers to army chief General VK Singh on his age issue Sources told DNA that Union law minister Salman Khurshid along with National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon met Gen Singh to find a solution to the rift between the government and the army chief.

The move comes after the government decided to take a hardline position on the issue following marathon meetings between prime minister Manmohan Singh and defence minister AK Antony on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, however, Khurshid pointed out that announcing the next army chief while Gen Singh’s petition was in the Supreme Court could prove to be a major problem from the government. According to him, an announcement at this stage could easily be construed as contempt of court.

This has put the government in a bind as it had decided to announce the next army chief during discussions that took place on Tuesday. Sources in South Block told DNA that Antony even sought all papers connected to the case as he was worried that the defence ministry bureaucracy could have “misled” him on the issue.

The government has also realised that Gen Singh has a good case in court since he has a birth certificate from Military hospital in Pune as well as a school leaving certificate that records his age as May 10, 1951.

In fact, sources said, the UPSC also raised the issue when Gen Singh joined the National Defence Academy nearly 40 years ago.

However, the documents submitted by Gen Singh as a cadet satisfied the commission and he was allowed to continue with 1951 as his birth year throughout his career. All his promotions were also conducted keeping 1951 as his birth year and even the identity card issued to him by the army headquarters at the time he was commissioned as an officer from the Indian Military Academy mentions 1951 as his year of birth.

The government has also realised that any order from the apex court will have large scale implications. If it wins the case, it could create a major issue since this could put the validity of a birth certificate and a school leaving certificate as age-proof in jeopardy. If the court rules in favour of Gen Singh, it could be an embarrassment even bigger than the 2G case with the international media picking up the story in a big way on Wednesday.

For the last two months, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was acting as an interlocutor on behalf of the UPA government with Gen Singh. However, a petition filed by the army veterans, the Grenadiers Association, was coming up which could have vitiated Gen Singh’s options to go to court. The Grenadier’s petition was full of basic mistakes which are expected to be rejected by the apex court. To prevent such a prejudice building up, Gen Singh rushed through his petition on Monday morning.

 

[perplexed]

what a sh!t storm this is turning out to be

 

[KS]

Pranab ‘assured’ Army Chief of a face-saving exit - Indian Express

Barely a week before he moved the Supreme Court on his date of birth controversy, Army Chief Gen. V K Singh is said to have been “assured” by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that the government was working out a way to accept his claim on the condition that he would retire in May this year.

AS is been suggested by various persons, the real issue here is not rules or legality regarding the DoB..it's just that someone or a group in either the MoD or in the Army itself is keen in getting rid of the Chief this year so that some other person can be promoted as the COAS for 'whatever' benefit. The whole episode is murky.

 

[Manas]

Adm VB might have been out of the system for 12 years now, but then as a victim of the system himself he definitely is in a position to comment on the rot than anybody else. And just because he is formally out of the system doesn't mean he will not have contacts inside anymore.

Also regardless of 'saint' Anthony, it is also the babus who dominate the MoD who may be the real pushers behind this. Let us not kid ourselves..the IAS officials rank along side the politicians in corruption.

p.s.: St. Anthony may not be so much of a saint after having 3 of his wife's paintings forced upon AI for Rs.25 crore.

As far as i see the controversy first raked up at the Military Secretary level of the army HQ when VKS was promoted to Major Gen ,so civilian bureaucracy came in the picture much later.

I find its a malicious tussles within the in the army ranks itself which is dangerous .

Its the responsibility of the civilian leadership to fix the problem where the Govt has miserably failed.

PS: What i find most interesting is under what circumstance Gen VKS's DoB was changed to 1950 and both how & why he accepted it during his promotion to the post of Army chief.

 

[asad71]

Shows how impotent and callous Indian rulers are. Brings to the surface the jealousy of the crooked bureaucracy towards the military services - not only in India but everywhere in SA. Morale of IA must have gone down into the boots now.

 

[third eye]

Shows how impotent and callous Indian rulers are. Brings to the surface the jealousy of the crooked bureaucracy towards the military services - not only in India but everywhere in SA. Morale of IA must have gone down into the boots now.

Agree on all points made except those highlighted.

The COAS is too far removed in the military hierarchy to impact the morale. At best all ranks would be watching to see how his case is handled by the babus.

Nothing more.

 

[SQ8]

Agree on all points made except those highlighted.

The COAS is too far removed in the military hierarchy to impact the morale. At best all ranks would be watching to see how his case is handled by the babus.

Nothing more.

But he still represents the leadership of the Army..
Now if he is a popular Chief, no matter what.. there will be disgruntled voices in the ranks.. be they quiet now or not.

 

[misterme2]

Let The General float a political party and run for the next national election. This could just what India needs to turn the corrupt babus and establishment on its head. With the publicity and media watching, Anna could give this General the hero's welcome he deserves by pushing for his nomination in any future elections. Obama started of as nobody who won the elections. History could be repeated here as well. It could also serve the purpose of getting rid of all the insitituionalized corruption in India. if you agree, pass this msg to Anna Bhai....let him and his supporters rally behind the General. Indians must realize neither Cong or BJP care for the best interest of the Indian ppl.