Army Chief General VK Singh passes the baton after a controversial stint

General Vijay Kumar Singh, who took over the reins of the Indian Army 24 months ago, will hang up his boots on May 31 after completing a tenure which saw the military-civil conflict spiral to a new high when the Army Chief dragged the government to the Supreme Court over the controversy over his date of birth.

General Singh, who took over as the Chief of Army Staff on March 31, 2010 with an image of honest, firm and upright officer, will leave behind a legacy of controversies. When he assumed his office, Singh promised to improve the Army's "internal health" by getting rid of corruption and transforming the 1.13-million force into a lean, mean fighting machine to tackle the prospects of a two-front war along with its counter-insurgency duties in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East.

But after the over two-year long tenure as the Chief of the world’s third largest army, General Singh leaves behind a trail of controversies even as he took several steps to restore the moral fibre of the force and acted against several high ranking officers in corruption cases. While he went into an overdrive to cleanse the Army, some of his decisions and actions riled the government to a great extent, especially his decision to seek judicial intervention on his date of birth controversy.

While there were several calls to sack the General for what many saw was a defiance of the government authority over the Army, the soldier in him continued with his battle. Even after being forced to retreat on the date of birth controversy, General Singh did not let go of any opportunity to highlight what he thought was in the best interest of his men under his command.

His letter to the Prime Minister highlighting critical shortages of ammunition and the lack of fighting capabilities of the force, which was mysteriously leaked, led to a lot of uproar in Parliament with various political parties putting the government on the mat and also questioning the General’s intention in exposing the soft underbelly of the fighting machine.

Singh, who became the first trained commando to become the Army Chief spending 42 years in the service, was commissioned into the 2nd battalion of the Rajput Regiment on June 14, 1970.

The retirement of General Singh and Western Army Commander Lieutenant General SR Ghosh, who is also demitting office on May 31, would leave the 1.3-million strong Army without any soldier who saw action in a full-fledged war. Both General Singh and Lt Gen Ghosh were commissioned before the 1971 war which resulted in the division of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh.

Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Bikram Singh will be the first Army Chief to lead the force without seeing action in a full-fledged war.

Here’s a look at the various controversies and issues that marked the tenure of General VK Singh as the Chief of the Army Staff:

Sukna Land scam

At the heart of the scam is 70 acres of land at Sukna in Darjeeling district of West Bengal. A NOC from Army is needed for any land next to a military installation.

The land scam came into the open in mid-2008 and the names of Lt Gen Rath and Lt Gen Prakash figured among the senior army officers who influenced the decision to issue the NOC to a Siliguri-based private builder to construct an educational institution on a 70-acre land adjacent to the Sukna military station in Darjeeling.

The private builder floated a trust - Agarwal Geetanjali Education Trust - to set up an affiliate school of the prestigious Mayo College in the area.

General VK Singh ratified a court martial decision to dismiss former Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash from service. The dismissal meant that he would not get any benefits like pension and would not be entitled to use Army rank or any privilege attached with military service.

Age row

General VK Singh's tenure saw the unprecedented step of an Army Chief dragging the government to the court seeking a change in the date of birth in the official records that would have given him an extra 10 months in service.

General Singh had two dates of birth entered in the Army records - May 10, 1950 in the Military Secretary Branch and May 10, 1951 in the Adjutant General's Branch.

The dispute over what should be treated as his actual date of birth led to a running battle between him and the government which finally ended after the Supreme Court refused to accept his contention that 1951 was his year of birth.

Troop movement

On April 4, a leading national daily had reported the "unusual" movement of key military units on the night of January 16, on the day Army Chief General VK Singh approached the Supreme Court on the age issue.

According to the report, the movement had created chaos and unease among the civil establishment, following which Defence Minister AK Antony and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were informed.

However, the movement of about 500 personnel of the 33rd Armoured Divison with 40 armoured fighting vehicles and an equal number from the 50 Para Brigade towards Delhi did spook the government, forcing it to call back its Defence Secretary from Malaysia.

The Army Chief had dismissed reports of "unusual" movement of two elite units of Army towards the capital calling it "routine" for which there was no need to "notify" the government.

He had also rejected any link between the timing of the troop exercises and his moving the Supreme Court and suggestions that the movement was meant to scare the government or exert pressure.

Defence Ministry bugging incident

In February, there were reports of Defence Minister AK Antony’s being bugged, following which Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma had taken up the matter with the Intelligence Bureau.

Reportedly, officials of the Military Intelligence detected the bug during a routine check. Their hand-held detectors indicated presence of a monitoring device in Antony's office. The MI personnel were immediately asked to leave by Defence Ministry security.

This event highlighted the mistrust between the government and the Army, during the tenure of General VK Singh, as the Defence Ministry handed over the probe to the IB and not the MI. Also, the army had to dismiss the reports of involvement.

PMO letter leak

General VK Singh courted another controversy when a letter sent by him to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the lack of war preparedness of India and ammunition shortage got leaked.

There was much uproar over the issue and some even blamed General Singh for the leakage of the letter.

However, General Singh was later cleared of any wrongdoing in the episode as a joint secretary-rank officer in the Cabinet Secretariat was found guilty of leaking the letter about the poor state of preparedness of the Indian army.

Ammunition shortage

In a letter dated March 12, written by General VK Singh to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Army Chief had highlighted the sorry state of infrastructure in the armed forces.

General Singh had written that the Army's tank regiments lacked ammunition to defeat the enemy, the air defence was almost obsolete and the infantry was falling short of critical weapons.

He underlined that the country's security might be at stake due to the critical shortage of ammunition.

General Singh had also pointed out that the 'hollowness' in the system was a manifestation of the procedures and processing time for procurements as well as legal impediments by vendors. He had also mentioned that the work quality was poor and there was a 'lack of urgency at all levels' on matters of national security.

Though Defence Minister AK Antony termed the ammunition shortage as rumour, the Standing Committee on Defence confirmed the shortage of tank ammunition.

Bribery row

General VK Singh has claimed that he was offered bribe to clear the purchase of vehicles for the forces. He had said that he was offered a bribe worth Rs 14 crore by an equipment lobbyist to have a tranche of 600 sub-standard vehicles cleared for purchase.

General Singh had also said that 7,000 of those sub-standard vehicles were already in use in the Army and had been sold over the years at exorbitant prices.

Later in a press release dated March 5, it was alleged that the bribe offer to General Singh was made by retd Lt General Tejinder Singh.

Tejinder Singh had contended that the press release issued by senior Army officials, including the Army chief, was "defamatory" and had sought its withdrawal in the court.

The matter is still being probed by the CBI. Meanwhile, Tejinder Singh has complained against General Singh to Defence Minister AK Antony. He has said that General VK Singh, after his retirement, should be attached so that he can present himself for any enquiry against him.

Notice to Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag

In yet another controversial move, General VK Singh issued a showcause notice dated May 19 to Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag, who could head the force in two years, for censure on account of lapses in handling a failed intelligence operation in Assam in 2011.

General Singh had also put Lt General Suhag under discipline and vigilance ban meaning that he could not be promoted. The notice charged Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag, who is in the line of succession after Army Chief-designate Lt Gen Bikram Singh, with "abdicating responsibility" in handling an intelligence and surveillance unit in a "most unprofessional and lackadaisical manner".

The Defence Ministry has also sought a detailed report on the issue.

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