Supreme Court dismisses a public interest litigation on Army Chief's age row

New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) The Supreme Court of India today dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a direction to the government to restore the Army Chief Gen V K Singh's date of birth as May 10, 1951 saying it was not maintainable in law. "In our view, the writ petition filed at the behest of an association is not maintainable. The writ petition is dismissed as not maintainable," a bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said. "This is purely a service matter," the court said, adding it is not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case. Gen Singh himself has separately filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the government that his date of birth be treated as 10.5.1951 and not 1950. The bench, also comprising justices A K Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar, said the affected person was not before it and entertaining a PIL based on newspaper headlines will set a "bad precedent" and lead to a "chaotic situation". The bench did not agree with petitioner's contention that the whole nation was concerned with the age row of the Army Chief. It said the PIL under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution at the behest of an association was not maintainable as the question of violation of fundamental rights has not arisen. "Can such a prayer be granted in a PIL? We can understand if it was made by the person affected. We have to go by law. Person who is affected has to come to the court. We can't make departure from the law," the apex court said. The PIL, filed by The Grenadiers Association (Rohtak Chapter), was seeking a direction to the government to declare May 10, 1951 as the date of birth of Army Chief Gen V K Singh instead of May 10, 1950. Service chiefs in India have a tenure of either three years or till they attain the age of 62, whichever is earlier. Indian Army maintains two records. The current Army chief's date of birth as per school leaving certificate is 10.5.1951. But the Military Secretary's branch of the Army which is responsible for postings and promotions has the year 1950 as the year of birth. If 1951 is ruled as the year of birth, Gen Singh would retire on March 31, 2013, on completion of three years, not on May 31, 2012, as now on attaining 62 years as per record with the Military Secretary branch. PTI