Government won't sack Gen VK Singh over age row
Even if the court order goes against the Army Chief V K Singh, the government would not summarily sack him, government sources say.
By Josy Joseph, TNN | Updated:
NEW DELHI: Even if the court order goes against the Army Chief V K Singh, the government would not summarily sack him, government sources say.
As the stand-off over Gen Singh's age issue gets close to a possible Supreme Court listing, the government has decided on a multi-pronged strategy to deal with the unprecedented and embarrassing situation. His petition before the Supreme Court is yet to be taken up for hearing, and could come up before a bench as early as next week.
As the court battle nears, the government has decided not to carry on any further negotiations with Gen Singh. The government had been trying to find a solution to ensure that an all-out legal battle can be avoided. However, those efforts have not succeeded and it doesn't have any chance to succeed now, sources insist.
The government had deployed finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, NSA Shiv Shankar Menon, defence secretary Shashikant Sharma and defence minister A K Antony to find a way out. They have had several rounds of discussions with Gen Singh, but an amicable settlement couldn't be reached. As late as last week, the government was hoping to avoid a legal battle. "There is no such hope any more," said a senior source.
The source also pointed out that the second part of the government strategy is to take all further decisions on the Army chief's age issue after the Supreme Court's order. The government acknowledges that there are systemic problems with the Army headquarters that led to two branches of the Army- Military Secretary and Adjutant General -maintaining two different sets of date of birth for Gen Singh for almost 40 years. It is this difference that was manipulated against him in 2006.
However, those changes that are necessary to the Army setup to avoid any such future trouble would not be carried out before the court order, sources say. "Whatever may be the order, even if it is embarrassing to us, would be implemented," they insist, indicating that the government doesn't have a confrontationist mindset.
A source insists that the UPA government has decided not to commit the blunder of sacking a service chief. "We wouldn't commit the blunder of NDA," he said, referring to the sacking of Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat as the naval chief by the then BJP-led NDA government in December, 1998. The sacking had led to months of acrimonious public debate.
As the stand-off over Gen Singh's age issue gets close to a possible Supreme Court listing, the government has decided on a multi-pronged strategy to deal with the unprecedented and embarrassing situation. His petition before the Supreme Court is yet to be taken up for hearing, and could come up before a bench as early as next week.
As the court battle nears, the government has decided not to carry on any further negotiations with Gen Singh. The government had been trying to find a solution to ensure that an all-out legal battle can be avoided. However, those efforts have not succeeded and it doesn't have any chance to succeed now, sources insist.
The government had deployed finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, NSA Shiv Shankar Menon, defence secretary Shashikant Sharma and defence minister A K Antony to find a way out. They have had several rounds of discussions with Gen Singh, but an amicable settlement couldn't be reached. As late as last week, the government was hoping to avoid a legal battle. "There is no such hope any more," said a senior source.
The source also pointed out that the second part of the government strategy is to take all further decisions on the Army chief's age issue after the Supreme Court's order. The government acknowledges that there are systemic problems with the Army headquarters that led to two branches of the Army- Military Secretary and Adjutant General -maintaining two different sets of date of birth for Gen Singh for almost 40 years. It is this difference that was manipulated against him in 2006.
However, those changes that are necessary to the Army setup to avoid any such future trouble would not be carried out before the court order, sources say. "Whatever may be the order, even if it is embarrassing to us, would be implemented," they insist, indicating that the government doesn't have a confrontationist mindset.
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A source insists that the UPA government has decided not to commit the blunder of sacking a service chief. "We wouldn't commit the blunder of NDA," he said, referring to the sacking of Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat as the naval chief by the then BJP-led NDA government in December, 1998. The sacking had led to months of acrimonious public debate.
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