No tension over Army chief's age: Antony

Last Updated: Tuesday, September 27, 2011, 21:03

Tags: Army chief, Age, AK Antony

New Delhi: There is no tension between the Defence Ministry and the armed forces on the controversy surrounding the age of Army Chief Gen VK Singh, Defence Minister AK Antony said here on Tuesday.

"Let me tell you that there is no tension in the Defence Ministry. We are working as a joint family and the Ministry and armed forces working cordially and there are no problems," the Minister told reporters when asked to comment on issue.

Antony said he has received the Statutory Complaint from the Army chief and will make his decision public after the due process is over.

Gen Singh filed the Statutory Complaint after the Defence Ministry rejected his contention to change his date of birth from May 10, 1950 to May 10, 1951, which, if recognised, would have given him an additional ten months in office.

He has two sets of dates of birth in his service records. The Military Secretary Branch has it as May 10, 1950 whereas the Adjutant General Branch shows it to be May 10, 1951.

The Defence Ministry in its July 21 order had declared the May 10, 1951 date of birth as "non est.".

PTI

First Published: Tuesday, September 27, 2011, 21:03

Comments

Major ( Retd ) Virendra Sharma - Los Angeles ( USA )
This is quite an unnecessary controversy, played up by some interested people who were in the race for the top post. This, again, was an unhealthy and unethical on part of those people. My advice to the govt is to accept DOB of Gen VKS as 1951 as the records at AG`s branch are the correct records for all army personnel. Not accepting this time bound system may result in to Gen VKS moving to the apex court, which may not be a good thing both for the govt and the armed forces. Another advice to the govt is that henceforth the tenure of the Chiefs of the armed forces, on the line of the cabinet secretary, be for fixed 3 years. It should be `` 3 years or age of 62, which ever is later``.