The curtains finally came down on the festering row over Army chief VK Singh's age, with the Supreme Court ruling that he was born on May 10, 1950 and not a year later as he claimed.
The curtains finally came down on the festering row over Army chief VK Singh's age, with the Supreme Court ruling that he was born on May 10, 1950 and not a year later as he claimed.
The judges made it clear that his date of birth would continue to be May 10, 1950 and not May 10, 1951 as mentioned in his school leaving certificate.
"The question before us is not about determination of the actual date of birth but it concerns recognition of a particular date of birth by the government in official service records," they ruled.
While holding that General Singh had agitated from day one to correct his birth date, the judges said in all primary documents the date of birth had been mentioned as May 10, 1951.
After two and half hours of hearing, the court gave General Singh's counsel a brief adjournment to explore the option of withdrawing his petition. Left with little elbow room, the army chief did precisely that.u00a0
A defence ministry spokesman said, "We are happy the matter has been resolved amicably." General Singh's lawyer echoed the sentiment and said the dragging row has been "gracefully" resolved.
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