NEW DELHI: A day after it was ambushed by General V K Singh who took his battle over his age to the Supreme Court, an angry government on Tuesday decided to take on the Army chief frontally in the apex court.
Incensed by Gen Singh's surprise move, and regretting that it allowed itself to be outmaneuvered by him, the government explored the entire spectrum of options, ranging from simply letting the court take a call on the case to asking the Army chief to resign or go on leave and naming his successor before time.
As of now, the radical step to sack the Army chief is not being considered. It is recognized that Gen Singh has managed to "manipulate" perception to paint himself as a victim and, therefore, the first move in the counter-strike should be to blast holes in his version, say government sources.
The Centre has decided to field attorney general G E Vahanvati and solicitor general R F Nariman in court to rebut Gen Singh's case that he was treated unfairly, having already moved a caveat in the Supreme Court to prevent him from securing any relief without it being heard.
The line of succession will also be "fully protected", with Eastern Army commander Lt-Gen Bikram Singh being the frontrunner to replace the incumbent when he retires on May 31.
With BJP attacking the government for "mishandling" the issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and others, including defence minister A K Antony and law minister Salman Khurshid, spent Tuesday strategizing on the various options.
The attorney general and the solicitor general, it is learnt, also had detailed discussions with PMO officials. Defence secretary Shashikant Sharma, too, joined the fire-fighting by cutting short his official trip to Malaysia.
As it seethes with anger, the government is also realizing that it was strung along by Gen Singh who, sources claimed, gave assurances that he would accept May 10, 1950 as his date of birth: pledges that he reneged time and again.
Moreover, at least three ministers had gone out of the way to praise the general, lavishing superlatives on him. Now it is recognized that the generous testimonials may be used by Gen Singh in case the government takes recourse to drastic action against him. Hence the need to breach his defence in the court by giving a detailed account of his "manipulation" and string of broken promises, said sources.
Antony, who trusted the chief against the counsel of senior officials
who had tried to alert him to the "Janus- type qualities" of the general,
is hurt and angry over having been taken for a ride. The trust deficit between the two is just one of the reasons why there is a unanimous feeling in the government that Gen Singh's continuation as Army chief has become "untenable", sources said.
{It means that AKA will have to resign. This will have consequences on his future role in the polticial system.}
The court battle itself may lead to "a conflict-of-interest situation" involving the Army chief, who bosses over the Adjutant General and Military Secretary branches: the two wings which have the custody of records crucial to the dispute over his date of birth (DoB).
Finally, for all his disclaimers, the government has taken Gen Singh's conduct as a case of gross indiscipline and feels the need to nip the risk of it becoming a precedent in the 13-lakh strong armed forces.
There are indications that a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security may soon be called to finesse government's counter-measures against Gen Singh.
{Its about time the perpetrators of 1962 debacle are made accountable}
The Army chief, armed with his matriculation certificate and other documents, on his part, has called it a battle for "his personal honour and integrity". He has declared if the court corrects his DoB from May 10, 1950 to May 10, 1951 as he wants, he will not seek an extended tenure and go home on May 31 as scheduled.
{Did he say this? Or is it babu spin?}
If the DoB is settled at 1951, Gen Singh in the normal course would serve till March 2013, paving the way for present Northern Army commander Lt-Gen K T Parnaik to become the next Army chief.
The government's defence revolves around Gen Singh's three letters of January 2008 and November 2009 "accepting" his DoB as May 10, 1950, and assurances that he would "maintain" it.
In a 2009 letter to then Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor, Gen Singh said he had "learnt of some misgivings and doubts being raised on my commitment given on my DoB as per your directions. You are well aware that I have not gone back on this commitment... I have taken your directions in letter and spirit..."
The government argues Gen Singh's promotions to the rank of first Army commander (senior Lt-General) in 2008 and then the Army chief in 2010, as cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, was done taking into account his written acceptances on his DoB. "So, Gen Singh now seems to be going against his own assurances to the Army and government," said an official.
They should pinpoint the officer responsible who has played foul thereby affecting the career of the officer. We allow this petition with cost of Rs 10,000 and expunge the effacing of the ACR of the Brigadier from January to June 2009".