New Delhi: Amid the raging row over his age issue, Army Chief Gen V K Singh on Tuesday remained non-committal on whether or not he will move court to seek redressal on the matter. “It is a purely personal issue and I desist from making any public comment on the issue,” he told reporters when asked if he had kept the option open on approaching court to settle the dispute over his year of birth. The question was asked in the context of the Defence Ministry rejecting his statutory complaint for not treating May 10, 1951 as his year of birth as against May 10,1950.
The Defence Ministry has twice rejected Gen Singh’s claim of accepting May 10, 1951 as his date of birth, which would have given him an extension of ten months in office. Recently, Gen Singh had said the idea of approaching the court on the age issue has not occurred to him. The Army Chief has two sets of date of birth in the records. The records with Adjutant General’s branch show it to be May 10, 1951 whereas the Military Secretary’s branch records it to be May 10, 1950. Asked if his differences with the Ministry were over, Gen Singh said, “When there were no differences at any point of time (on the age issue), how can they be now?” (PTI)
