CAESAR’S WIFE MUST BE ABOVE SUSPICION
The Supreme Court’s dismissal of General VKSingh’s petition must have come as a major disappointment to him and all those who aligned with his thinking process, whether in service or out, as also civilians. I, as an aware, informed and dyed in the wool officer who served in the Army for 37 years and achieved; what my potential was deserving of, am in complete admiration of the principled sagacity of the Division Bench which pronounced the judgment and disposed the subject civil writ petition. The Order, yet again restores my faith in this Apex Legal Institution of the country, which adjudicates dispassionately and without favor or prejudice. It is a matter of immense pride and esteem for the people of this country that, we have this constitutional pillar of our democracy functioning with utmost equity and an abiding sense of jurisprudence. While being sensitive enough to uphold the dignity and honor of the individual, in keeping with the prestige of the office and position he occupies; the Judicial Bench also averred to the restraint the petitioner ought to have shown in bringing the dispute into the public domain. We, must be reminded that it is a judgment of this very court, which said that “Truth is its own Evidence” and does not require any witness to support it, and yet maintained that the facts available on record in this matter being diverse, cannot be ignored. The veracity therefore lies beyond the obvious and will only be best known to those who perpetrated it. Furthermore, like most balanced people had opinionated against the Chief’s penchant to fault the Government and metaphorically ‘wash the dirty linen in public’, the Court’s Speaking Order too deliberated upon this aspect and advised the petitioner to show the necessary wisdom befitting his age, maturity, service and status.
A dispassionate analysis of the entire sequence of events resulting in the dismissal of the Chief’s petition, will pronounce that there is nothing as useless as doing efficiently as that which should not be done at all. Was all this required? And, for what purpose. Just to get a certificate from the Attorney General or else the Division Bench of the Supreme Court that, General V K Singh is an honorable man. When, this was never ever the issue with anyone. Was this a case of an ideal opportunity to be seized, driven more by sanctimonious pompousness, for projecting the self, much more and beyond the Organization. A point was raised on a matter of reconciling differing dates of birth and brought up to the notice of the highest competent authority, for resolution. Having, reposed trust and faith in the same. However, when an acceptable decision did not follow, which was to the liking of the officer, the Army Headquarters went into an overdrive in an attempt to take two bites at the cherry and attract media attention to a grave inequity being done to its tallest Institution – The Chief of Army Staff. It is most unfortunate that the officer got carried away by his own arguments, which were validated by those who were giving him a ‘snow job’ and which convinced him about his infallibility in the matter. The attempt to walk with one’s shadow and become one with it, demands a monumental sense of selflessness, which was absent in this case.
It is not for me to conjecture what will unfurl in the immediate future, but my conscience echoes to me that, my line of thought though contrary to what was maintained by most veteran colleagues, is evolving.
Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal
E – 102 Arborea
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