On Friday,after it became clear that the Supreme Court would soon be hearing the officers plea,Defence Minister AK Antonywhose rejection of Gen VK Singhs statutory complaint last month led to matters reaching the apex courtchose to break his silence. Antony dispelled all talk of a last-minute compromise formula and made the point that the government would wait for the verdict of the Supreme Court. The remark reflects the conclusion that the government reached months agothat one way or the other,the matter would reach a court of justice. From the day the age issue resurfaced in April last year,the defence ministry has been preparing for a legal battle. The ministry knew that some affected partyan ex servicemens organisation or officers displaced in the succession linewould take the matter to the judiciary. Every decision that the ministry took in the case was taken in consultation with the Attorney General (AG) and the law ministry. The final call to reject the statutory complaint made in December was taken after a nine-page explanation by GE Vahanvati in which he not only called the complaint not maintainable under the Army Act but also rejected the first opinion given by the law ministry in February 2011 that 1951 is the correct year of birth. The governments defence rests on the following. One,the UPSC form that records 1950 as the year of birth. Second,the application form for admission to IMA on July 29,1969,which Singh filled and has the year 1950. The officer says he was ordered to indicate the date as per the UPSC application form. The third is the Army List of 1974-75 and 1994-95 that records 1950 as year of birth. The ministrys decision to follow 1950 as the year of birth was taken two years ago. Known as a stickler for rules,Antony was defending a decision on the matter taken before he came into the picture. More than five months before he took over as minister in October 2006,the first move had been made to change Singhs birth date. On the verge of being promoted as Corps Commander,Singhs paramount card systema record book of the Armywas changed to reflect 1950 as the year of birth,affecting the entire line of succession. The norm in the army is that the senior-most commander is made chief and the line of succession is known much in advance. If 1951 is taken as Singhs year of birth,Army Commander Lt General Bikram Singh,who is next in line,will not be chief; instead,Northern Army Commander K T Parnaik would become chief. That would have a cascading effect on the entire succession line. In 2008,when the matter resurfaced as Singh was to be appointed an Army Commander,Antony followed the rule book by defending a decision taken before his time. While the minister asked the army to conduct an inquiry,it wasnt done. The minister relied on the advice of his bureaucrats and considered the issue as closed. It hasnt.
