The government on Monday for the first time clarified that the controversial movement of troops towards Delhi in mid-January was 'routine' for which no permission was required from the Defence Ministry.
Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, who appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, told the panel that the movement of the troops towards Delhi was a routine drill and no standard operating procedures were violated as it did not require permission from the government, sources said.
A report in an English daily had said the Army had moved two units towards New Delhi without notifying the government on January 16-17, only some hours after Army Chief V K Singh went to the Supreme Court against the government on the issue of his date of birth.
The report created a storm. It is learnt that some MPs in the panel were of the opinion that after the clarification of the Defence Ministry and the Army on the issue, the matter should be treated as closed.
This is for the second time that Sharma, along with Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen S K Singh, appeared before the panel on the issue. The Defence Secretary had earlier appeared on April 4 before the Standing Committee, which asked him to appear again on April 9 with complete facts related to the issue.