Antony says he is sad over age row
Breaking his silence over Army Chief V K Singh approaching the Supreme Court on age dispute, defence minister A K Antony on Friday expressed his concern over the public debate on the issue.
"I feel sorry and sad about the controversy. That is why in spite of something being misunderstood, I was keeping silence because I believe this is not an issue that can be decided on public platform or (through) public debate," he said on the sidelines of a NCC function.
The Army Chief had filed a petition in the apex court challenging the defence ministry's decision to cancel his statutory complaint and internal petitions to change his official year of birth to 1951 from 1950.
"The decision (of the government) has now been questioned and matter is before the Supreme Court. Lets all wait for the verdict of the SC. Please avoid controversy and let us wait for the final verdict of the SC," he said.
The defence ministry is readying its court-room strategies which include presentations of previous promotions given to Singh considering his seniority on the basis of 1950 as his year of birth and documents in which Singh agreed to abide by the government decision to accept 1950 as his year of birth in all official matters.
The Army Chief, on his part, stated in the petition that the government was free to decide on the
Army Chief's tenure but it should accept 1951 as his year of birth.
Noting that there are constitutional forums to question a government's decision, Antony said, "The Army headquarters and government take decisions many a time but now there are questions.
There are constitutional forums to question the decisions of government."
The minister said government was exercising "maximum restraint and patience" on the age row and contended that the matter could not be settled in a sensational manner.
“I have always been against public debate on this, but unfortunately some of you are celebrating it. This is not an issue for celebration.”
Replying to a question as to why the government allowed the issue to linger on for seven months, he said, "Our government is keeping maximum restraint and patience because these issues cannot be handled in a sensational manner through public debate."
