General Bipin Rawat superseded not just Lt Gen Bakshi but also southern command chief Lt Gen PM Hariz.
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat today said he would look into grievances of Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi, one of the two generals he superseded.
"All grievances of General Bakshi can be addressed and looked into if there is a formal complaint made. If there is anything that needs to be investigated, we will look into it," General Rawat said, addressing his first press conference after taking over as Army Chief.
Lt General Bakshi had alleged a "malicious campaign" to stop him from becoming Army Chief while addressing the soldiers of eastern command on New Year's Eve. The address was replayed by the India Today.
"I would like to tell my own command that there has been a malicious campaign to smear my name... and a very deep-rooted conspiracy. Who was it? Why did they do it? What was the motive? Is exactly not clear," said Lt General Bakshi.
The officer also talked about anonymous letters criticizing his functioning and "making some allegations", and said he wanted to get to the bottom of who did it.
The government's decision to skip two generals while appointing General Rawat as Army Chief came as a surprise to many and raised concerns among former generals.
General Rawat superceded not just Lt Gen Bakshi, who was next in line to be chief on seniority, but also southern command chief Lt Gen PM Hariz.
This is the second time seniority has been overlooked in nearly 70 years.
In 1983, Lt General SK Sinha resigned after the Congress government of Indira Gandhi picked his junior General AS Vaidya to be chief in 1983.