New Delhi:
The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice BS Chauhan today recused itself from hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by former army personnel on the controversy over the Army Chief's age.
Justice TS Thakur of the bench said, "Not before this bench".
The petition supports Army Chief General V K Singh's claim that he was born in 1951 and wants the Apex court to settle this issue. It says that a change in the date of birth will affect the morale of the force.
Different records within the Army show May 10, 1950 and May 10, 1951 as the General's date of birth. General Singh has consistently claimed that he was born in 1951 and not 1950 as maintained by the Ministry of Defence.
The biggest implication is that the year of birth will determine when the Army chief will retire. According to the Defence Ministry's stand, this would be in 2012. If it had accepted General Singh's claim, his tenure would have stretched to 2013.
The petition will now come up for hearing before another bench of the apex court in January.
After the controversy over his age, General Singh had argued that that the confusion arose from a form which he filled when he was 15 years old. The clerk handling his papers for the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) exams listed his age as 16 instead of 15. This was the application form for the National Defence Academy, which documents the General joining the army.
All his promotions were, however, decided on the basis of him being born, as he said, in 1951.