Confusion over next Army chief’s birth date internal matter: Antony

Refusing to be drawn into the controversy over the date of birth of Lt Gen V K Singh, who is slated to take over as the next Army chief, Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday said the issue is an internal matter and will be sorted out ‘through proper channels’ by the Army itself. “There is no need for me or my ministry to interfere. In all such cases, there is a clear channel to sort out the problem. It is an internal matter of the Army,” he said at the sidelines of a seminar here. Antony’s comment came a day after the Army chief ordered an investigation into why the Military Secretary’s branch records a date of birth for Singh that’s different from that recorded in the Adjutant General’s office.

The disparity came to light after Singh’s file was moved to the Cabinet Secretariat for clearance. The AG branch, the official record keeper of the Army, shows his date of birth as May 10, 1951, while the MS branch, in charge of promotions and postings, shows it as May 10, 1950. With the matter causing embarrassment for the top brass, it is learnt that Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor is keen to fix accountability for the mistake and punish any likely ‘trouble makers’.

The matter of the separate birth dates has been apparently brought up by a group of Generals who stand to gain if Singh’s year of birth is taken as 1950. This will ensure that as the next Army chief, he will retire one year early by attaining the maximum age of 62. This will put the interested group of Generals for contention to the top Army position at that time.