Antony decides: Army chief born in 1950

Antonys decision means that General Singhs tenure will be reduced by a year. He will now retire in May next year,ensuring that Eastern Army Commander General Bikram Singh is appointed as the next Army Chief.

Antony took the decision after several rounds of consultations with the Law Ministry,during which the Solicitor General (SG) opined that changing the date of birth at this stage would not be advisable as it would affect the interests of the top brass of the Army.

As first reported by The Indian Express on April 14,the issue of General Singhs correct date of birth came to light after a legal opinion by the Law Ministry,in response to a Right to Information (RTI) query,stated 1951 as his correct year of birth.

This was followed by the Army Chiefs representation to the Defence Minister in which former chief justices of India had also opined that 1951 was his correct year of birth.

However,after two rounds of consultations with the SG,Antony decided that 1950 would be considered as the correct date of birth.

With three former CJIs and a legal opinion by the Law Ministry backing 1951 as the correct date of birth,the Army Chief can take legal recourse. While there are no indications yet,he could also make it a point of principle and take the extreme step of stepping down from his post.

The controversy arose,as first reported by The Indian Express on January 29,2008,when Singhs appointment as army commander was being approved. It came to light that there was a difference in his date of birth. The Armys AG branch,the official record-keeper,showed his year of birth as 1951 while the MS branch,in charge of promotions and postings,recorded it as 1950.