WILL THE CHIEF DISCIPLINE HIMSELF
It was when the present Chief of Army Staff was the General Officer Commanding in Chief of the Eastern Army that, the squabbling about his date of birth was brought into the public domain by the media. This controversy was fuelled with an ulterior motive in the Army Head Quarters (AHQ) by the Military Secretary’s (MS) Branch, then headed by the infamous Lt Gen Avdhesh Prakash, who awaits a court martial for his complicity in the now popularly known ‘Sukhna Scam’. The then Army Chief, General (retd) Deepak Kapoor was also party to fan the flames of this issue, because of his differences with General VK Singh on the stand taken by him to proceed against his MS and thus show defiance to the institution of the Chief. General VK Singh stood his ground on what was premised on principles and legally correct. The round went to him. And, he brought with him into the arched corridors of South Block and his present Office,which he occupied after Deepak Kapoor demitted it, a whiff of soldierly probity and rectitude.
Soon thereafter, when the ghost of the shameful ‘Adarsh Housing Society Scam’ haunted the high and mighty including three ex chiefs and many other one, two and three star general officers, General VK Singh took centre stage and displayed tremendous moral courage to initiate an inquiry against the alleged officers, which included his immediate predecessor, Deepak Kapoor also. The Army had got its soldier Chief in General V K Singh, who dared to show spine and the courage of his convictions. A popular sentiment, which engulfed the hearts and minds of the military fraternity was indeed that, of General VK Singh ‘Being the Right Choice’ in the prevailing circumstances of venality in public life and a pervasive military environment. He had come to clean the ‘augean stables’ of the Army and resurrect its pride and prestige in the public perception.
While it is to the credit of the present Chief that, no eye ball catching financial scams have since come out in the public domain, but it will be premature to predict whether this has ushered in a culture of implicit morality in the Army, driven more by character than the fear of being discovered and resultant punitive action. So far so good. However, in the recent past, both the electronic and print media have with regularity reported on the spat the Chief and the AHQ are embroiled in with the Raksha Mantri and the Ministry of Defence, respectively. With the facts of the contentious matter as written about in newspapers/magazines known to all, the subject has been referred to the appropriate competent authorities and an opinion/ruling obtained there of and accordingly communicated to the aggrieved parties. Given the status and dignity of the institution of the Chief of Army Staff, it seems rather puerile and oafish on the part of both, the individual and the organization to fight and contest the decision/ruling. Without getting into the technicalities of the case, the presence of two dates of birth, one with the records as maintained and held by the Adjutant General’s Branch and the other by the Military Secretary’s Branch, is an anomaly which should have been resolved and settled by the officer himself, long before in his service career. It is my case that, what was the officer doing ever since he was commissioned into the Indian Army and was duty bound to report any discrepancy which had come to his notice. Ignorance in the matter is not an extenuating circumstance to mitigate the officer’s culpability. At this point in time and stage of his distinguished career, it does not behove of the Chief of the Indian Army to exhibit such truculent behavior and get into a stand off with the Ministry of Defence. Conceding to the officer his service privilege and statutory rights of representing against any perceived grievance, his case has been examined in keeping with the facts on the matter and adjudicated upon. Military prudence and discipline must not be repudiated and ignored by General V K Singh, by directing his staff to fight his case under the technical guise of the AG branch being the legitimate custodian, on matters of personal details of officers. General VK Singh should not get carried away by the opinion of Justice Verma, former Chief Justice of India, on the matter. Who, strongly feels that the corrupt lobby of officers which was smitten by VK Singh’s earlier principled stand against their interests, is behind the move to force him to demit office earlier. Notwithstanding the legality and judicial interpretation in the matter by Justice Verma, the fact remains that he does not enjoy any constitutional status or official authority to arbitrate in the matter. The decision of the Defence Minister and his Ministry is binding and must be respected. In a parliamentary democracy the Army is subordinate to the civilian government and any insinuation of intransigence by non other than the Chief himself, when it concerns his personal interests is most unbecoming of this institution.
The message which is being given to the 1.13 million strong Army by this obduracy of the Chief, to accept the decision of a superior authority, is most unbecoming of this exalted service institution. It smacks of indiscipline and violates the spirit of ‘Good Order and Military Discipline’. Should General VK Singh feel so strongly about an injustice being done to him in this whole episode, then his most preferred course of action should be to offer his resignation to the Government. And after doing that, fight his case on its merit in the courts of the country, in accordance with the law of the land. Do that and he will only enhance his reputation. Should the Chief not be guided by wise counsel and instead charge his staff to continue with the engagement and get two bites at the cherry, by speaking to the media on the grave inequity being done in the matter. It will be an unfortunate day in the history of our Glorious Army, which is limping back to redeem its lost pride in the wake of the several scams, which have assailed its reputation in public perception
Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal
E-102 Arborea Luxury Homes
Tarla Nagal
Uttarakhand
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