Paper General Singh spoke with claims PM and next Chief are kin

The denial came in response to a news report in the weekly, "Senadhyaksha Umra Vivad: Pradhanmantri Unki Patni Unki Saali" (General's Age Row: PM, his Wife and Sister-in-Law), alleging that Army Chief General V K Singh got a raw deal in his date-of-birth controversy because the wife of next Army Chief Lt General Bikram Singh is the sister-in-law of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"The allegation that General Bikram Singh or his wife is related to the Prime Minister or any member of his family is completely untrue. This is a scurrilous, irresponsible and mischievous statement," said a communique issued by the PMO today.

Incidentally, it was in an interview to Chauthi Duniya editor Santosh Bhartiya that General V K Singh had alleged that he was offered a bribe by an officer (Lt Gen Tejinder Singh) via an "indirect method."

Bhartiya, when asked about the PMO's denial, said: "I have not seen the denial. We will speak through the paper, Chauthi Duniya."

The Chauthi Duniya report alleged: "Manmohan Singh ki patni Gursharan Kaur aur Bikram Singh ki patni Surjeet Kaur mauseri behnein hain. Is natey Bikram Singh ki patni Surjeet Kaur Pradhanmantri Manmohan Singh ki saali huin. General VK Singh se juda yeh saara prapanch Pradhanmantri ki saali ko khush karne ke liye hua." (Manmohan Singh's wife and Bikram Singh's wife are cousins. This makes Bikram Singh's wife the PM's sister-in-law. The plot against General V K Singh was hatched to favour the PM's sister-in-law."

This is the second consecutive denial by the government to the Chauthi Duniya in as many days. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) yesterday denied its report where it had alleged that the MHA was tapping the phones of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, A K Antony, and Pranab Mukherjee among others with the help of top officials of IB and Defence Intelligence.

"The allegations that telephones were bugged at the instance of the Home Minister or the Ministry of Home Affairs is an outrageous lie," the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a press communique on Thursday. "The Government reserves its right to take appropriate action against the offending newspaper," the MHA communique added.

With less than a month to go before General Singh retires, Chauthi Duniya alleged that Home Minister P Chidambaram and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal — on behalf of the PM — approached Chief Justice of India Justice S H Kapadia ahead of the court's verdict on General V K Singh's age-row case to caution that a verdict against the government would create a Constitutional crisis.

"P Chidambaram and Sibal as an envoy to the PM met (CJI) Kapadia and said if the government's stand goes wrong and General wins, then a Constitutional crisis will be created...On the day of verdict, February 10, people were expecting the victory of General but things turned upside down. The apex court rather providing with the judgment acted as an advisor," the report said.

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