Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Defence Secretary met Army Chief Gen VK Singh on Wednesday the and is believed to have expressed the government's displeasure at the leak of official communication on the matter related to his age controversy. During the meeting, Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma reportedly expressed unhappiness over the "unhealthy precedent" set by the head of the force by going to court. The meeting came against the backdrop of unhappiness in the government over the Army Chief approaching the Supreme Court to settle his date of birth dispute.
Meanwhile, CNN-IBN has accessed the 66-page writ petition filed by Gen Singh in the Supreme Court. In the plea Gen Singh claimed his acceptance of May 10, 1950 as his date of birth in 2008 was not a free admission but was made in a hurry and done under apprehension of some proceedings being initiated against him.
General Singh has asked the government to fix his date of birth and all consequential claims thereafter. In his plea he also says that he has the right to retire with dignity.
Sources said that the government is keeping a close eye on the PIL that is scheduled to be heard on Friday. It'll also be watching whether the apex court takes up the matter or not.
What will also be closely watched is whether the Army Chief's counsel asks for an early hearing on his petition. Singh's petition makes two important points while asking the court to fix his date of birth. First and foremost, that the letters he gave to General Deepak Kapoor agreeing to 1950 were actually given in a hurry and under duress. The second, the very fact that his age crisis came 36 years after his service, actually smacks of inefficiency in the Military Secretary's branch.
While the government would actually be formulating it's response to these two points, it's also looking very closely at one particular line - that of the Army Chief asking the court to fix his date of birth and all consequential claims thereafter.
The government sources say that they are a little uncomfortable with the wording n his petition.
"It is an unfortunate development and it is not a healthy precedent either for the (Defence) Ministry or the armed forces... It is an unhealthy precedent. It does not auger well either for the Ministry or the forces," Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju had told reporters earlier on Wednesday.
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