Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen. V.K. Singh had felt that the ministry of defence (MoD’s) reference to the Attorney General on the Army Chief’s date of birth (DoB) issue a few months ago was biased and lacked objectivity, according to an official note written in June this year by the then defence secretary Pradeep Kumar.
The contents of the note — reportedly accessed through an RTI application — were confirmed by defence sources on Thursday.
The developments further reveal the deep differences between the MoD and the COAS on the issue. The government had, in July this year, rejected the contention of the Army chief that he was born on May 10, 1951, and had instead decided to continue to maintain in official records that he was born on May 10, 1950.
Following that, the Army Chief had filed a statutory complaint to the MoD on his DoB matter. The statutory complaint is currently being examined by the MoD but is likely to be rejected as well.
“It is little odd that the Chief of Army Staff has chosen to come to a conclusion that the reference made by the defence ministry to the Attorney General (AG) lacked objectivity, was biased and designed to procure a particular opinion,” Mr Pradeep Kumar, then defence secretary, had stated in the note sent to defence minister A.K. Antony in June this year, according to defence sources.
It may be recalled that Mr A.K. Antony had recently said that there was “no tension” between the MoD and the Army over the DoB issue.
Mr Antony had said that the MoD and armed forces are working as a joint family without tension and as a team.
On September 7 this year, Mr Antony had informed Parliament, “The date of birth of General V.K. Singh, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), has been maintained as May 10, 1950, at the time of his selection as Corps Commander in 2006 as well as his subsequent promotions as Army Commander in 2008 and Chief of the Army Staff in 2010. Accordingly, he is left with 8 months and 23 days of service as on date.”