Former army chief V K Singh attacks predecessors over age issue

NEW DELHI: Former army chief V K Singh has attacked his predecessor J J Singh, claiming that he initiated a "look down policy" through which he, along with a few other officers, were "fixed" to clear the way for "an officer of his choice" to take over as the Chief of Army Staff in 2012.

The former chief, who spent his last days in office battling the government in court over his age issue, has said in his autobiography that the "particular officer" seemed to be the choice of people in the government including the wife of a very important political personality.

Both former army chiefs J J Singh and Deepak Kapoor have contradicted the claims made by V K Singh in his book titled 'Courage and Convictions' on issues related to his age controversy.

"It is now an established fact that Gen J J Singh had, within months of taking charge, initiated the 'look down policy' that would give a clear idea as to what the line of succession would, or could be....What mattered was chief's own list, for as COAS he could tweak events to clear the way for his choice immediately after me.

"It was brought to J J's notice that if he could truncate my tenure as the chief to a two-year period, then the path could be cleared for the officer of his choice and perhaps the choice of others in government, to take over in 2012," he says.

"A bit of deft manoeuvring was needed to remove impediments from the path of the officer on whom the chief had his eye," according to him.

Gen Singh says among those who would have to be fixed included Maj Gens Ravi Arora, A K Singh, Sujan Chatterjee and Brigadiers Padam Budhwar and M M Chowdhary.

He claims that in the scheme of things, it was an imperative that he becomes the chief but "only for a limited period".

There was a controversy over the date of birth of the former chief.