New Delhi:
The army chief has withdrawn his case against the government in the Supreme Court; his lawyer said the matter has ended "gracefully." But General VK Singh dropped his petition after the Supreme Court indicated it was not in favour of entertaining his petition, asking for all his records to show his date of birth as May 120, 1951 and not May 10, 1950. Documents in the army reflect both years. With today's developments, General Singh remains obliged to retire at the end of May. But there are reports that he may quit soon.
Here are 10 big developments in the case:
1. General Singh was not in court for today's hearing but was in New Delhi till the verdict came in this afternoon. He later flew to Jaipur on a special plane for an official visit.
2. During the hearing today, the Supreme Court made strong observations that were not in General Singh's favour. The court said government's decision to use 10 May 1950 as his year of birth "does not suffer from perversity and is not grossly erroneous".
3. The two-hour hearing ended with the judges giving the General the chance to drop his case. The chief's lawyer withdrew his petition when the court hearing resumed at 2 pm after the lunch recess.
4. The government had said it is not possible at this stage to update old records that list 1950. It also argued that the chief had accepted 1950 as his date of birth in 2008 when he was considered for a big promotion.
5. During the hearing, the Supreme Court judges seemed to agree with this. They said that crucial "threshold" documents list the General's date of birth as 1950, and "You accepted it. It is a matter of record. Then you became army chief." The judges also said that it was clear as far back as 2008 that two branches of the army -thee Adjutant General and the Military Secretary had different dates of birth for him. "The matter was discussed with you at the highest level and you accepted 1950," they observed.
6. But because the chief withdrew his case, the Supreme Court did not need to deliver a verdict. General Singh was not in court. His lawyer said the matter was resolved "gracefully." He stressed that "This was not a petition seeking extension of tenure, this was a matter of honour and integrity." The chief's lawyer, Puneet Bali, also said that the Attorney General had in court expressed the government's confidence in the chief as the leader of the armed forces. After these "generous and graceful" comments, he said, there was no need to pursue the case.
7. Speaking on behalf of the government, the Attorney General had said in court, " We have full faith in him. The Defence Minister is circumspect and has never said one word against the Army Chief. The fact that we are resisting his petition doesn't reflect on his ability to lead the army. We hope and pray this won't be the end of his service." The Supreme Court also urged the Chief to continue in office. " We want to ensure as Chief of Army, you continue to serve the country as you did for 38 years. This verdict should not come in your way. Wise men are those who move with the wind," the judges observed.
8. Before that, the government withdrew the second of two orders that rejected General Singh's petition to change his date of birth. That order was delivered by the Defence Ministry on December 30. However, the government told the Supreme Court that it stood by its decision taken in July last year to dismiss the chief's petition. Effectively, the government told the Supreme Court that it was not willing to amend the records that the chief had objected to.
9. At the first hearing in the case exactly one week ago, the Supreme Court said that the government had used a "vitiated" or defective technique to rule against the chief on December 30. The judges said that the government had incorrectly involved the same legal expert -the Attorney General - in dismissing the General's original petition in July, and then his appeal. The court said this defied the principles of natural justice.
10. If General Singh steps down, the army will have to choose between Shankar Ghosh, the Western Army Commander; V K Ahulwalia, the Central Army Commander; and General Bikram Singh, the Eastern Army Commander.