Supreme Court defers hearing in Army chief's age row case till Feb 10 (Update)

New Delhi, Feb.3 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday deferred the hearing in the ongoing stand-off between Army Chief General V K Singh and the government over his age till February 10.

The apex court, which was hearing a petition by General Singh, questioned the manner in which the complaint about his age was rejected by the Defence Ministry in December last year.

The court has asked the government whether it would withdraw this order since the decision-making process in rejecting the complaint was vitiated.

The court also referred to the Attorney General's role in the matter and wanted to know how an officer who gave an opinion against the Army Chief in the first instance could also be involved in deciding on his complaint on the age issue.

The apex court's ruling comes a day after General Singh met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Mukherjee had earlier led the government's efforts in seeking a compromise with the Army Chief to avoid a legal battle. The meeting took place in the backdrop of the government facing the flak in the Supreme Court in the 2G case.

The dispute is over the fact that General Singh maintains he was born on May 10, 1951. But the government has recorded his date of birth as May 10, 1950. The reason for discrepancy is two sets of records held in two branches of the army headquarters-the adjutant general's office and the military secretary to the army chief's office.

The government recognised May 10, 1950 as Singh's date of birth on the basis of a series of records, including a UPSC form filled by him before joining the National Defence Academy. It also has several other documents to argue that he was born on 1950.

The Army Chief, though, claims he was born in 1951, which has been recorded in his matriculation certificate - a legally acceptable document to establish proof of age.

His complaint is that his age records were never reconciled by different army branches. He claimed that the documents carrying the "wrong" date of birth should have been verified with the matriculation certificate because "there was a mistake" in the UPSC form. (ANI)