Age row: Day after SC move,Army chief meets MoS Defence

Singh has dragged govt to apex court demanding his birth date be treated as May 10,1951.

Even as controversy continued to rage over Army Chief Gen V K Singh’s date of birth,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today steered clear of making any comment,contending that the matter was “sensitive”.

His evasiveness on the issue came on the eve of hearing by the Supreme Court of a petition filed by a private organisation in support of Gen Singh. It was not clear whether a petition filed by Gen Singh himself would come up tomorrow.

“It is a sensitive issue. I do not want to comment,” the Prime Minister said on the sidelines of a function to launch the book ‘The Tribune 13 Years: A Witness to History.’

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He was asked about the controversy surrounding the age of Army Chief who has dragged the government to the Supreme Court to seek a direction that his date of birth on military records be treated as May 10,1951 and not 1950.

Meanwhile,the Army Chief met Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju this afternoon,a day after the latter expressed unhappiness over the matter being taken to court.

It was not clear as to what transpired at the unscheduled meeting between Raju and Gen Singh but it is believed to have been arranged to clarify things.

“It is an unfortunate development and it is not a healthy precedent either for the (Defence) Ministry or the armed forces… It is an unhealthy precedent. It does not auger well either for the Ministry or the forces,” Raju had said yesterday while reacting to a question on the issue.

Police personnel seen to control the situation during a massive protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab)

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