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Government,army chief must resist temptation to exult or sulk

Government,army chief must resist temptation to exult or sulk

The Supreme Court has brought quick closure to administrative uncertainty over the army chief,General V.K. Singhs year of birth. On Friday,the court determined that all documents at threshold when Singh joined the National Defence Academy showed his date of birth to be May 10,1950 that is,not May 1951,as the general is now pleading it be corrected to. The judges held that his primary record with the UPSC Union Public Service Commission indicated his year of birth to be 1950,and asked him why he did not all this while get it corrected in there. Further,holding that the Union governments call on taking 1950 to be the operative date had done him no prejudice,the court gave the army chief the option of withdrawing his petition. He did so. Earlier in the day,the government withdrew its order of December 2011 on Singhs statutory complaint on affirming his year of birth. Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati,however,said the government stood by its earlier decision on taking 1950 as Singhs year of birth,but said none of this should be taken to mean the government is questioning the army chiefs integrity.

It is significant that the court took on record in its order that statement on the governments stand on General Singhs integrity. By doing so,the court has highlighted a middle ground from where can be begun the task of addressing the damage inflicted by the impression created of a confrontation between the Union government and the office of the army chief. For this,it is important that the government and the army chief see this settlement in court as a starting point to repair their institutional interface,and not as a provocation to exult or sulk.

Certainly,the governments case that 1950 be taken as Singhs year of birth for administrative purposes has been upheld. But it is a pointer to the sloppy handling of the issue that what should be a matter of administrative routine came for resolution to the apex court. That it did,frames the lack of political will in the UPA government to take important decisions speedily and apply itself to persuading public opinion. The court order should,therefore,nudge the government towards sober,mature handling so that everyone is carried along. The tone and content of the governments and the army chiefs next moves will have a long-lasting impact. Precipitating a fresh crisis is in no ones and importantly,not in the countrys interest.