Govt files caveat in SC on petition by Army chief on age row

Government today filed a caveat in the Supreme Court  against any ex-parte order on the petition of Army Chief Gen V K Singh challenging the  decision over his date of birth.

An application was filed by the Ministry of Defence urging the apex court not to pass any order on Singh's petition without hearing it. The caveat as filed through counsel T A Khan. Gen Singh had yesterday taken the unprecedented step of dragging the government to the Supreme Court on his age row saying it was an issue of his "honour and integrity".

He filed a writ petition in the apex court after exhausting all statutory options within the Defence Ministry which had recently rejected his contention that he was born in 1951 and not 1950. The petition challenges the July 21, 2011 order of the Defence Ministry which fixed the date of birth as May 10, 1950 and the December 30,2011 decision by which his statutory complaint was rejected.

He has sought a direction for declaring May 10,1951 as the correct date of birth.