Defence ministry asks AG to correct Army chief VK Singh's age

NEW DELHI: In what could escalate the row between the government and the Army chief General VK Singh, the defence ministry has written to the Adjutant General's ( AG) branch of the Army to correct its record to show the year of his birth as 1950, contrary to his stand that he was born in 1951.

The letter sent to the AG's branch, the official record keeper in the service, says May 10, 1950, should be shown as the date of birth of Gen Singh. The AG's branch has maintained Gen Singh's date of birth as May 10, 1951 while the military secretary's branch shows it as May 10, 1950.

This indicated the stand the government would take when the petition comes up before the Supreme Court on February 3. By reconciling the two dates in the Army records, the government has cleared the stage to argue that according to its records General Singh was born in 1950. The defence ministry in July had asked the AG's branch to record 1950 as Gen Singh's year of birth instead of 1951.

The controversy over his year of birth had taken a new turn when the General took his battle to the court on January 16 calling it a 'battle of honour' and hoping he would be able to establish his claim that he was born in 1951. In a petition filed in the Supreme Court, he has asked for an explanation of why his claim that he was born in 1951 and not 1950 has been rejected by the ministry.

The General, for whom the one year difference in records would make a difference of one year in office, has been saying that he was not fighting the central government for extra tenure but for honour. If 1950 is taken as his year of birth, he would be retiring in May.

According to the government, many promotions given to General Singh used 1950 as basis for his seniority. Defence minister AK Antony had said he was "sorry and sad" about the government-Army chief row about the general's age. BJP leader Jaswant Singh had castigated the government for dealing with the Army chief in a "shabby and insensitive" manner.