New Delhi: Giving time to the government to explain its stand on the age row, the Supreme Court deferred the Army chief General VK Singh’s petition till Feb 10. The court questioned the manner in which General Singh's complaint about his age was rejected by the Defence Ministry in December last year, observing that the entire decision making process had been vitiated since the attorney general’s opinion was taken twice.

The apex court asked the Attorney General to seek instruction from government on withdrawing its order rejecting the statutory complaint of Army Chief on age issue. The Solicitor General remarked in court, “Is this not violation of principles of natural justice. How can the Defence Minister come back to the Attorney General for an opinion when his opinion was one which aggrieved the General in the first place."

Posing questions to the Government, the bench of Justices RM Lodha and HL Gokhale was of the view that the Defence Ministry's order of July 21, 2011 holding the date of birth as May 10, 1950 was based on the opinion of Attorney General and so was the case when the December 30 order was passed on the statutory complaint. After the court asked whether the Government would like to withdraw the December 30 order, Attorney general GE Vahanvati said he will seek instruction from the government on the issue.

The Army chief wants the court to decide on his age. He says he was born on May 10, 1951, but the government says it has to go by documents that list his date of birth as May 10, 1950. General Singh's records within the Army show both dates.

The General says he has tried several times to have the date corrected. But his requests were turned down. He insists he is concerned about "his honour and integrity" and not his tenure. He has become the first serving Army chief to take the government to court.

Also Read: Army Chief blames bureaucracy in petition | Government rejects army chief's age plea | PM steers clear of age row