AG says Army Chief's birth year is 1950, govt to decide

Vahanvati's view had been sought by the Army after it was found that Singh has two different dates of birth -- May 10, 1950 and May 10, 1951 -- in various documents, creating confusion regarding his date of retirement.

The AG has opined that Singh's date of birth should be treated as May 10,1950 which is mentioned in his UPSC application form for the National Defence Academy and that tampering with it at this point would lead to complications in the succession line.

If this view is taken into consideration, Singh will retire on June 1, 2012.

The matter is now to be decided by the government. There are indications that the Defence Ministry on his own may not take a decision on it and may refer it to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, which had appointed Singh as the Army Chief.

When asked about the controversy, Antony said, "Whenever the government takes the decision, it will be announced."

He suggested that the matter should not be raked up in the media.

"I don't want any public controversy over this. Please try to avoid public controversy on this. This is my personal request. Please don't sensationalise issues regarding services," he told reporters in response to questions after addressing the Unified Commander's Conference here.

Earlier, the Law Ministry had opined that May 10, 1951, which is mentioned in Singh's Matriculation certificate, should be treated as his date of birth.

The Army has been maintaining two different date of births in its records for Singh.

The Adjutant General’s (AG) branch, the official record keeper for purposes of salary and pension, has May 10, 1951 as the official date of birth while the Military Secretary’s branch, in charge of promotions and postings, has recorded it as May 10, 1950.