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The Army chief had filed the statutory complaint with Defence Minister A K Antony after the ministry ordered the Army to amend contradicting records by deciding on 1950 as the year of birth. Gen. Singh now has the option of approaching the Armed Forces Tribunal for redress.
Sources said that after taking a third opinion from the attorney general (AG), the ministry rejected the complaint. The ministry has stuck to the stand it took after an earlier opinion by the AG, who had said “changing” the date of birth would alter the Army’s succession line.
In his first public comment on the matter in September, Antony had said that the officer would retire next year as the date of birth maintained during his selection to the top post was May 10, 1950.
The Indian Express had first reported the controversy over the officer’s age, which arose when files were being moved to approve Singh’s appointment as an Army commander. It came to light that there was a difference in the date of birth, first seen when he applied to the National Defence Academy (NDA).
The Army’s AG branch showed Singh’s date of birth as May 10, 1951, while the MS branch, which is in charge of promotions and postings, showed it as May 10, 1950.
The date was incorrectly mentioned in the admission form as 1950 due to a clerical error. The error was rectified after Singh made representations to the Army with supporting documents, and his date of birth was amended in the AG records as 1951. However, the failure of the MS branch to update its records came to light more than three decades later, when he was being appointed as an Army commander.
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