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Army Chief still has option of judicial review
Ajay Banerjee/TNS

New Delhi, July 24
The Defence Ministry’s decision, taken on Thursday, about Indian Army Chief General VK Singh’s date of birth (DoB) has raised fresh questions, especially at the manner of record keeping and dealing with sensitive issues that have the potential to harm the Army. The row would get murkier if the Army Chief opts to seek a judicial review.

Window of hope The General’s matriculation certificate says his DoB is May 10, 1951. The Supreme Court in various verdicts has upheld that the matriculation certificate is the final document to decide DoBs. This gives the General the option of judicial review

Defence Minister AK Antony, who is known for his integrity, took the decision on the basis of the advice of the Law Ministry and conveyed to the Army chief that his DoB would be accepted as May 10, 1950, and not May 10, 1951.

Amusingly, the Army, all these years, has been maintaining two records. The Military Secretary’s (MS) office says the DoB of the chief is May 1950 while the Adjutant General’s (AG) branch lists it as May 1951.

The genesis of this confusion lies some 45 years ago in the General’s admission form filled for the National Defence Academy that said his DoB was 1950. The form was supposedly filled in by a teacher in his school and the General, then a 16-year-old boy freshly out of school, signed it. The matriculation certificate of General VK Singh says his DoB is May 1951.

The Army rules 1954 allow a correction in records within two years of being commissioned. But this particular rule on corrections was amended in the mid-1970s. Till then, it allowed a “reasonable time” for corrections. The Supreme Court in various verdicts has upheld that the matriculation certificate is the final document to decide DoBs. This gives the General the option of judicial review. But will he opt for it remains to be seen as it would be seen that he is hankering for an extension.

A senior officer, who is in the know of things, explained, “The very fact that there were two records - one with the MS Branch and the other with the AG branch - indicates that the Army Chief or his father - a former Colonel in the Indian Army - had made efforts to get corrected the anomaly arising out of the NDA form. Notably, the MS branch does not have a system to verify DoBs. It draws its records from the AG’s branch.”

Some of the questions that need a hard look are: Who allowed two records to continue for four decades? The General’s DoB was checked each time he was promoted especially since age is a criteria for senior ranks in the forces, why was it not sorted out?

Can the Defence Minister’s decision end this debate for a chief who is at present “fathering” the transformation of the Indian Army? How many more such cases of dual age records exist in the Army? In case of General VK Singh, the Defence Ministry’s verdict has raised fresh questions that stem from defence regulations which prohibit any alteration in records. In his case, which set of records will be taken into account remains to be seen.

The matter will have to addressed at a higher level as General VK Singh was appointed Army chief by the Prime Minister-headed Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC) as per his May 1950 record. The AG’s records need to be amended to bring it in line with the Cabinet decision.

The first time the DoB issue cropped up was in 2006 when the chief, then a Major General was slated to be promoted as Lieutenant General. The chief then gave an undertaking that he would accept any decision in the interest of the force. In 2008, Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash raised the matter again when Gen VK Singh was to be appointed Eastern Army Commander.

In case, the May 1950 DoB is accepted, Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Bikram Singh could be the next chief. But if the May 1951 DoB is accepted, Lt Gen KT Parnaik, Northern Army commander could be the chief. The chief retires at 62 while Lt-Generals retire at 60 years of age.