In a sharp attack on the Army Chief,former national security advisor Brajesh Mishra said today that General V K Singh had gone berserk after the Supreme Courts order on his age issue,and the government should have sent him on compulsory leave. Speaking to The Indian Express,Mishra,who was the NSA in the NDA government,said: After the Supreme Courts verdict,he went berserk. There were allegations about him bugging the Defence Ministers office,then the Rs 14-cr (bribe) charge,and then the letter to the Prime Minister on defence preparedness. He made these allegations without giving any proof. You are the chief,any statement from you has to be credible. If you behave like this,how will your subordinates behave? said Mishra. My view is that after the Supreme Courts decision,he should have been sent on compulsory leave till his retirement, said Mishra. He claimed that the current episode shows defects in the Army Chief as well as the Defence Minister A K Antony. Both are guilty of not taking national interest into account, he said. The Centres response to the present situation is due to indecisiveness and internal quarrels within the government,he said. He recalled how former Navy chief Vishnu Bhagwat was sacked for not following the governments order on the appointment of the deputy chief of naval staff,after then defence minister George Fernandes brought the issue before the Cabinet Committee on Security and quoted an Act that had been violated by Bhagwat. On defence preparedness,Mishra said: An Army general said that its not all that bad. Yes,the pace of sanctions is very slow. They (Army officers) are also responsible for that. They take months and years to procure. and then want the bureaucrats to approve it.
