To Leave Or Not To Leave – Controversy of Indian Army Chief Retirement
Hamid Hussain
In a 1.3 million strong Indian army, there is a discrepancy about the date of birth of one officer. In Military Secretary's (MS) branch the date of birth is May 10, 1950 while in Adjutant General's (AG) branch it is May 10, 1951. This information was entered over three decades ago. In a mountain load of paperwork in such a large bureaucracy, it could be a simple clerical error of no significance. However, this simple clerical error first became a storm in the teacup that eventually became a real storm. In its aftermath, we are now witnessing ruined careers, bitter fights among senior officers, damaging leaks of sensitive documents, accusations of tinkering with promotion system, strain on civil military relations and bruised image of Indian army. The officer at the centre of this controversy is none other than the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Vijay Kumar Singh (2 Rajput Regiment nick named Kali Chindi).
I became aware of the date of birth controversy in 2007 long before VK Singh was in the run for COAS position and had some misgivings knowing a little bit how the chairs are arranged at the deck. I wrote in 2008 "A controversy erupted when it was disclosed that V. K. Singh had discrepancy in his date of birth in different documents (May 10, 1950 vs. May 10, 1951). Records from Military Secretary and Adjutant General's branches were leaked showing different dates of births. Singh would still be the senior most general in the race for the top slot but a year difference will shorten his tenure as army chief. It is alleged that some senior generals who may benefit from a shorter tenure of V. K. Singh may have leaked the information. Some of them have raised written objections about the issue and we may see some mudslinging in near future". (Hamid Hussain. Indian Military Command Structure, Defence Journal, April 2008,
Defence Journal - Contents)
The main reason of the conflict is related to the succession of VK Singh. In Indian army, a Lieutenant General retires at the age of 60 while the retirement age of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) is 62. Traditionally, the senior most Lieutenant General is selected as COAS therefore it is very easy to predict who is in line for the top slot (the only exception was when in 1983 Lieutenant General AS Vaidya was selected COAS superseding his senior Lieutenant General SK Sinha).
VK Singh's date of birth has an impact on the succession. If 1950 is accepted he will retire in May 2012 and head of Eastern Command Lieutenant General Bikram Singh (Sikh Light Infantry) being the senior most general will succeed him. However, if 1951 is accepted then VK Singh will retire in May 2013 and the senior most Lieutenant General at that time would be head of Northern Command Lieutenant General K T Parnaik (Bikram would have retired by that time reaching the retirement age of 60 in late 2012). After a bitter fight VK Singh lost the battle and recently the government announced that VK Singh will retire on May 31, 2012 and Lieutenant General Bikram Singh will succeed him.
The real story starts with two previous Chiefs of Army Staff attempting to clear the line of succession. In 2006, VK Singh was the Chief of Staff (COS) of a Corps in Northern Command and was ready to take over the command of Ambala based II Corps. Then COAS General Jogindar Jaswant Singh (9 Marhatta Light Infantry) insisted that V K Singh accept 1950 as his year of birth. The reason was that JJ Singh wanted a shortened tenure of VK Singh ending in 2012 thus ensuring elevation of a fellow Sikh Lieutenant General Bikram Singh as next COAS. Plot seen in Indian army chief's age row:
Asia Times Online :: Plot seen in Indian army chief's age row
Some allege that VK Singh was summoned to Army Headquarters and told in no uncertain terms that if the army played the discrepancy of date of birth with Ministry of Defence (MOD), it could damage his career. It was made clear to him that he would become COAS in due time but with two year tenure and was asked to accept 1950 as his year of birth. VK Singh willingly put down in writing that whatever Army Headquarter decides would be acceptable to him in the larger interest of the Army. JJ Singh retired in September 2007 and General Deepak Kapoor (Artillery) took over as COAS. In 2008, VK Singh was now due to get an army command. Kapoor got him to sign again before appointing him GOC-in-C of Eastern Army Command:
The Controversy over the Army Chief's Age
It is also alleged that it was promised to VK Singh that they (Army & MoD) would take care of the issue of his date of birth in due time. VK Singh has admitted that he had asked two former Chief's; JJ Singh and Deepak Kapoor for a correction to his date of birth but no action was taken. Although on two previous occasions, VK Singh had put in writing that he will abide by army's decision; by 2009 VK Singh was now confident that no one could stop his appointment as next COAS. He was upset at reluctance of Kapoor to settle the issue and he started to strike back. By late 2009, the clash between Kapoor and VK Singh had become quite obvious. In August 2009, Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor (Artillery) recommended Lt. General P. C. Bhardwaj (First Para Battalion) as Vice Chief of Army Staff instead of Lieutenant General V K Singh who was the senior most Lt. General at the time. This started the rumour mill in Delhi that this recommendation showed Kapoor's preference for the next Chief.
In 2009, VK Singh then Eastern Army Commander started a Court Of Inquiry (COI) into what came to be known as Sukhna land scandal. Military authorities issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for construction of educational facilities by a private developer near the military station. It was not military land and involvement of military officers was only issuing a NOC and signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the state government. It was alleged that then Military Secretary Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash (Kumaon Regiment) asked then 33rd Corps Commander Lieutenant General Prashant Kumar Rath to issue the NOC and he later complied without informing his boss VK Singh. The Chief of Staff of 33rd Corps Ramesh Halgali brought the issue to the notice of higher authorities. The COI indicted Rath and Prakash and recommended a court martial of both officers. It should be kept in mind that there were no charges of any financial irregularities but simply not following existing rules. It was a case of construction of facilities by a private developer on a land that belonged to state government. Military authorities came into picture for simply raising no objection to the project as the land was close to a military station. Prakash got into additional trouble when an inquiry by Central Command found some financial irregularities in Kumaon Regimental Centre at Ranikhet and indicted seven officers including a Major General. Prakash got entangled in this controversy, as he was then Colonel Commandant of the Kumaon Regiment. Kapoor tried to only take administrative action rather than a court martial of the officers but the MOD sided with VK Singh and both officers were court martialed.
Kapoor vented his own anger by censuring Halgali and put the censure in his Annual Confidential Report (ACR) obstructing his career prospects. In late 2011, VK Singh recommended him for Deputy Chief of Army Staff (DCOAS) position but Kapoor's censure in ACR was the roadblock. On the army's recommendation, the MOD expunged the censure from Halgali's ACR thus clearing his path:
Govt clears Lt Gen's name in Sukna scam, appoints him dy chief of Army Staff - Indian Express
In 2011, General VK Singh ordered another COI into Mumbai's Adarsh Housing Society scandal. Land had been allotted for veterans of Kargil War of 1999 in Bombay, but when construction of the flats was completed several senior officers were given these flats instead of Kargil veterans. In March 2011, an army COI indicted two former Chiefs; Deepak Kapoor and NC Vij, four lieutenant generals (Tejinder Singh, P.K. Rampal, G.S. Sihota & Shantanu Choudhry) and four major generals (V.S. Yadav, Ram Kunwar Hooda, A.R. Kumar and Tej Kishen Kaul) and recommended that Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) should probe the matter:
Adarsh scam: Court of inquiry indicts ex-army chiefs Deepak Kapoor, NC Vij : North News - India Today
The real damage to the institution stems from the grievous charge that somehow army chief General JJ Singh engaged in a 'look down policy' to determine the 'line of succession' to the top position in the Army to favour a fellow Sikh. They allege that a detailed plan nick named 'Operation Moses' (suggesting that like the Old testament story the Chief would part the waters for Bikram Singh to smoothly walk through to become Chief) looking at the careers of many officers was started by JJ Singh. Bikram was Brigadier at that time and there were lot of variables to be considered. It is alleged that a number of qualified officers seen as threat to Bikram's advancement were sidelined; see
Former army chief J J Singh worked out the plans to make way for Bikram Singh to take over | Causes |
The names of five officers from Bikram's batch who were sidelined to favour him have been cited as proof of this plot. These officers were Brigadiers Padam Budhwar and MM Chaudhary and Majors Generals AK Singh, Shujjan Chatterjee, and Ravi Arora. See
Special Article
Arora's case is interesting and raises many questions. He was the gold medallist from his batch and he was passed over for promotion from Brigadier to Major General in 2005. He made a representation against the promotion board decision but no decision was taken. In May 2005, he lodged a statutory complaint with the MOD that was accepted in 2006. However, he was again rejected by the next promotion board held in July 2006 (four other officers of the 1972 batch were also not considered for promotion). In a bizarre move, in the next promotion board meeting of November 2006, Arora was approved for promotion to Major General rank although he had not made any representation. However, promotion was approved with the condition that his seniority be decreased by one year considering him with 1973 batch. See
www.outlookindia.com | The Generals And Particulars Everyone deduced from this exercise that Arora was too good to be sidelined at Brigadier rank, however by this manoeuvre he was made junior to Bikram and was thus now not a threat to Bikram's advancement.
I have some doubts about this specific incident as JJ Singh become Chief in on January 31 and Arora's first promotion board was held in February. It seems unlikely that the stage was set that early and JJ Singh could influence promotion board members. Even if other parts of the allegation are true, Arora may have been superseded as normal process. However, this allegation of tampering with system got credence when during VK Singh's petition to Supreme Court, Attorney General Goolam Vahnavati in his letter to the Supreme Court opposing the V.K. Singh's request for relevant official records to show his correct date of birth, referred to a mysterious "succession plan" that he said the authorities were determined to protect. See:
Army's "succession plan"? | Security Wise
A large number of officers are considered for promotion at every rank and there are many details that may not be relevant to the decision of promotion. Indian army has close to one hundred Lieutenant Generals, about 300 Major Generals and over 1000 Brigadiers at any given time. I have re-constructed these events to the best of my knowledge and these may have been normal procedures of promotions and supersession. However, if this allegation is true and senior most officer of the army was engaged in this intrigue to simply favour a fellow Sikh and in the process damaged the careers of good officers then it is a bad omen for the Indian army. No soldier worth his salt can be proud of such dirty tricks.
In 2011, VK Singh submitted a statutory complaint asking MOD to correct his date of birth that was rejected. In January 2012, he took the unprecedented step and filed a petition in Supreme Court. The two-member bench (Justices RM Lodha and HL Gokhale) gave clear indication that they will not accept VK Singh's position thus forcing him to withdraw his petition. See:
Forces must accept govt's supremacy - Times Of India
Now the rift was quite open between VK Singh and government and the fissures within senior ranks. VK Singh accused former head of Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) retired Lieutenant General Tejinder Singh and some officers in military intelligence directorate of leaking false information that General VK Singh had bugged offices of MOD. See:
Generals at war
A Major General and Colonel of MI directorate was reported to be under investigation for leaking damaging information to media. See:
The Week | Beep trouble
In another interview, VK Singh didn't name Tajinder but it is quite clear from the details that Tejinder was acting as lobbyist for a firm which offered him Rs. 14 crore bribe to clear the purchase of substandard army vehicles. See:
The Hindu : News / National : I was offered a bribe of Rs. 14 crore, says Army Chief
After his direct clash with the government and decision to remain in office VK Singh has created an untenable situation for himself and many other officers. There is now a direct confrontation between MOD and VK Singh that is being played out to the cost of the army. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has wisely stayed away from the controversy and let his defence minister handle the issue. Even an innocuous statement from the Prime Minister will allow his opponents to accuse him of favouring a fellow Sikh for COAS position.
The MOD and army Chief have been at loggerheads since 2010 regarding some changes in promotion policies. VK Singh wanted to change some of these policies promulgated during Deepak Kapoor's time. In January 2011, VK Singh made changes in the 'quantification process' and promotion boards for Major General and Lieutenant General rank cleared all successful candidates for both command and staff. MOD bureaucracy resisted clearing the promotion board results. See
Ajai Shukla: Promoting crisis in the military
MOD bureaucrats were against this move but Defence Minister A K Antony approved it to avoid a confrontation. See:
Army chief, defence ministry tussle over new Assam Rifles chief - Indian Express
In January 2012, the MOD also objected to the army's recommendation of Lieutenant General Sanjiv Chachra (Rajput Regiment) for the post of Military Secretary. See:
Defence ministry rejects Army nominee for military secretary - Hindustan Times
However, later the MOD relented and he was appointed Military Secretary. After these two concessions, it was quite clear that the MOD will stand its ground now and the Director General (DG) Assam Rifles issue provided the excuse for the MOD to push back against VK Singh.
DG Assam Rifles comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) but the army has operational control of the organization. Generally, DG's name is sent to MHA through MOD. In December 2010, army headquarters sent three names for the post of DG Assam Rifles and Lieutenant General Rameshwar Roy (7 Jammu & Kashmir Infantry) was appointed. In December 2011, Roy was recalled by army headquarters on charges of financial irregularities (some personal expenses for hair cuts and facials by his wife were charged to government exchequer) despite reservations by MHA and MOD.
VK Singh then sent the name of his DGMO Lieutenant General Ashok Kumar Choudhry (5 Mahar) as Roy's replacement directly to MHA bypassing MOD. As expected MOD first showed displeasure that it should have been routed through MOD and then rejected VK Singh's recommendation on the pretext that Choudhry has less than two years remaining and asked him to send the list of three other officers. See:
Defence ministry snubs Army chief again - Times Of India
More important is the fact that Choudhry has been at the crucial position of DGMO for barely three months and shuffling senior officers at important positions after few months is not a healthy sign VK Singh is clearly angry and his most recent move against a serving senior officer is bizarre. On March 22, the army recommended to the MOD for approval of 3rd Corps Commander Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh Suhag as Army Commander. A week later, VK Singh sent a request directly to CBI bypassing again the MOD to investigate Suhag as he had found a year old letter of complaint against the officer sent by a member of parliament. Suhag is line for the race for COAS in 2014. See:
General VK Singh reloads as govt looks to retreat - Hindustan Times
The remaining two months of VK Singh's tenure will be engulfed in these street brawls.
In the date of birth case, the evidence is in VK Singh's favour as most documents show 1951 as his year of birth. However two factors went against VK Singh. First, the important Army List is based on MS branch records and the generally accepted rule is that in the absence of original birth certificate the Army List will be considered final. The second and more damaging is the fact that VK Singh had compromised his own case when he accepted 1951 as his year of birth on three crucial stages of his career; General Officer Commanding of II Corps in 2006, General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Command in 2008 and finally COAS in 2010. This fact has been cited by the Supreme Court bench when it forced VK Singh to withdraw his petition.
Ideally, he should have discussed the issue frankly with the Defence Minister and once it was clear that government would not accept his case, he should have let it go. He should have refrained from going to Supreme Court and if he had decided to go the court he should have thought about his own course of action if case was decided against him. Even his admirers admit that after the court decision against him the only honourable way left for him was resignation. Unfortunately, not too many officers are known to resign on principle. If VK Singh had resigned, it would have been a win-win situation for him. He could claim that he resigned on principle and even his adversaries would have had to given him credit. This would also prove to be a sweet revenge by toppling the applecart of succession. If he had resigned before February 28, senior most Lieutenant General AK Ahluwalia (Artillery) and after February 28, senior most Lieutenant General Shankar Ghosh (Brigade of Guards) would be the likely succession candidates. The government then would have had to either appoint the most senior lieutenant general or break the precedent creating problems.
Critics of VK Singh allege that his tenure has been wasted on petty personal issues ignoring the needs of the army. The most damaging effect has been on defence preparedness and the fissures within the senior ranks as well as a general despondency amongst officers. The MOD was not enthusiastic about the changes in promotion policy for senior ranks fearing legal challenges from disgruntled officers and has now referred the matter to the Law Ministry. The end result being that the promotion of over forty brigadiers and major generals was put on hold for the second time in a year. No serious effort was made towards modernization and inertia at the highest level is costing the army dearly. It had to return 3'000 crore Rupees of unspent funds to government to the dismay of many officers. See:
Generals at war
The COAS designate Lieutenant General Bikram Singh is considered a good officer by many with a track record. Someone who knows him personally considers him to be a professional officer but very ambitious. He is from the old school, which has a strong regimental ethos. Bikram will be taking over as commander of the Indian army in very difficult times. He will have two urgent and crucial tasks on his hands to put the Indian army on even keel before addressing the real issues facing the institution. First he has to repair the relations of army with the MOD and secondly he has to make sure that current mistrust between senior officers is addressed and alleviated. Bikram has to overcome many of his own misconceptions about some officers and start afresh. He will have to work hard to create smooth working relations with his team of senior officers based on respect and professionalism. If he fails to reverse the current toxic environment amongst the highest ranks then the next two years will see the same unhealthy trend and inertia remain with a negative fallout for the army and the country.
A senior officer of the old school when officers were also gentlemen once told me, 'an officer is remembered and respected for what he gives to the army to make it a better institution and not for what he takes from the army to advance his own career'.
Position Name
COAS
VCOAS
DCOAS (Training)
DCOAS (Policy & Services)
MS
AG
QMG
DGMO
DGMI General VK Singh (2 Rajput Regiment)
Lieutenant General SK Singh (8 Gorkha Rifles)
Lieutenant General Ramesh Halgali
Lieutenant General Narindar Singh
Lieutenant General Sanjiv Chachra (Rajput Regiment)
Lieutenant General Jai Prakash Nehra
Lieutenant General Munish Sibal
Lieutenant General Ashok Kumar Chaudhry (5 Mahar)
Lieutenant General DS Thakur (1 Marhatta Light Infantry)
TABLE: I. Current senior staff officers of Indian Army. COAS: Chief of Army Staff, VCOAS: Vice-Chief of Army Staff, DCOAS: Deputy Chief of Army Staff, MS: Military Secretary, AG: Adjutant General, QMG: Quarter Master General, DGMO: Director General Military Operations. DGMI: Director General Military Intelligence.
Command GOC-in-Chief
Northern Command
Western Command
Central Command
Southern Command
Eastern Command
South-Western Command
ARTRAC Lieutenant General KT Parnaik (2 Rajputana Rifles)
Lieutenant General Shankar Ranjan Ghosh (Brigade of Guards)
Lieutenant General Anil Chait (Armoured Corps)
Lieutenant General AK Singh (7 Light Cavalry)
Lieutenant General Bikram Singh (Sikh Light Infantry)
Lieutenant General Gyan Bhushan (Mahar)
Lieutenant General Surendra Nath
TABLE: II. Current army Commanders of Indian Army. ARTRAC: Army Training Command
Note: The author thanks many well-informed individuals for their valuable input and clarifications. The conclusion and all errors and omissions are the author's sole responsibility.
Hamid Hussain
March 30, 2012
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