2012, an unprecedented year for Defence Ministry

NEW DELHI: 2012 was an unprecedented year for the Defence Ministry as it had a prolonged stand-off with former Army Chief Gen V K Singh over his age issue and a truck-deal case and was dragged to the Supreme Court.

The selection of France's Dassault Rafale for the 126 combat aircraft deal, India's entry into the elite club of nations with intercontinental ballistic missiles with the launch of Agni V, induction of nuclear submarine INS Chakra into the Navy and stand-offs between officers and jawans in several units also made headlines.

The year began with Gen Singh becoming the first serving chief of the Army to approach the apex court over his age issue on January 16 -- only a few hours after the Army Day celebrations got over.

He was seeking a change in his date of birth from May 10, 1950 to May 10, 1951, which if accepted would have given him 10 more months in office.

Though the battle over the age issue ended in February after the apex court rejected his plea, Gen Singh continued to trouble the establishment after he claimed that a retired Lt Gen had offered him a bribe for clearing a file for procuring Tatra trucks for the army.

Defence Ministry A K Antony immediately ordered a CBI inquiry into the charges.

The next bombshell came in the form of a leaked secret letter by Gen Singh to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in which he had raised serious questions about the military preparedness of the country.

The matter rocked the Parliament proceedings and there were several demands in both the Houses for sacking Gen Singh.

In his last few days in office, Gen Singh was also accused of apparently attempting to upset the future line of succession in the Army when he put Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, who is expected to head the force at the end of 2014, under a promotion ban for a failed intelligence operation.

It was ensured that these actions were corrected soon after the taking over of Gen Bikram Singh as the new Army Chief on May 31.