Army Chief junior's case against VK Singh adjourned till March 1

The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) on Tuesday adjourned till March one the case in which a major general has alleged that his Annual Confidential Report (ACR) was "spoilt" by Chief of Army Staff General VK Singh after he refused to change his date of birth.

The case was adjourned without any arguments, AFT sources said in Chandigarh.

Major General TS Handa, in his petition before the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) in April last year, had alleged that his Annual Confidential Report (ACR) was "spoilt" by Chief of Army Staff General VK Singh after he refused to change his date of birth.

The Major General had alleged that this happened when he was posted as deputy military secretary in the military secretary branch and Gen Singh's papers had gone to his branch during Singh's tenure as GOC 2 Corps Ambala.

Despite an outstanding career record in Army he was not considered for the promotion to the rank of Lt Gen due to adverse remarks recorded by Gen V K Singh in the capacity of Army commander of Eastern Command.

Handa had alleged that he was "victimised" by Gen Singh when he was posted in Ambala as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of two Corps.

In December 2006, Maj Gen Handa (then a Brigadier) was posted as the deputy military secretary, selection boards and complaints, when Gen Singh (then a Lt Gen and GOC of 2 corps Ambala) had asked the military secretary branch to change his recorded date of birth from May 10, 1950 to May 10, 1951.

In his petition filed last year, Maj Gen Handa claimed that the MS branch records the date of birth to be one filled in the UPSC form by the candidate in his own hand, which in his case was May 10, 1950.

Therefore, unless approved by the competent authority, the date of birth can't be amended by the MS branch as requested by Gen VK Singh.

Handa alleged that Gen Singh believed that he was responsible for not amending his date of birth.

"Else there was no reason for Gen Singh to have taken a series of deliberate actions all aimed at ensuring that further career progression of the applicant (Maj Gen Handa) is effectively sealed," the petition said.

Handa alleged that his ACR was spoilt when Gen Singh was posted as GOC-in-C of eastern Command and Handa was GOC 57 Mountain Division in the North East sector.