The Army chief's writ petition in the Supreme Court came even as the national security advisor, on the prime minister's instruction, and others in the government were trying to figure out a solution to the entire issue. In fact, as late as last week, a senior member of the Cabinet told TOI that he was hopeful of an "amicable settlement" to the issue.
Government sources said their decisions on Gen Singh's demand were shaped by what was legally the most sound advice available to them. It was precisely because of this that the defence ministry obtained three opinions from the attorney general on Gen Singh's demand. "At every stage, we wanted to be very sure that we are taking what is legally the most sound decision because we anticipated that our decision would be challenged in the courts," a senior government source said.
The government was also concerned that any decision which was not legally sound, and seemed to favour Gen Singh, would end up "dividing the Army", further adding to the fissures within the ranks. "We couldn't favour anyone at all," he said.
If the government were to accept Gen Singh's contention that he was born in 1951 and not 1950, it would have changed the accepted line of succession and resulted in Lt Gen K T Parnaik becoming the next chief.
According to the government's stand, Gen Singh's retirement on May 31, 2012 will pave the way for Lt Gen Bikram Singh, who heads the Eastern Army Command, to take over as the next chief. The government is generally guided by the seniority principle in selection of Army chief.
Government sources insisted that they had not looked at possible administrative decisions in response to Gen Singh's unprecedented decision to move court. Indications emerging from within the government are that it may not prefer a very aggressive line, such as dismissing him from service. While the Army chief enjoys the right to move a legal forum, the fact that he is challenging the government is an uncomfortable position for many within the system.
Sources also said the government was ready to present all documents related to the case before the Supreme Court. Among them are a host of documents attesting to its claim that Gen Singh's official year of birth is 1950. Most particularly, the MoD is expected to present before the court three undertakings given by Gen Singh since becoming a lieutenant general that he would abide by the decision of the Army Headquarters/MoD on the age issue. The last undertaking was given just a few days before he was appointed Army chief, and it was addressed to the then Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor and copied to then defence secretary Pradeep Kumar.
In the last undertaking Gen Singh explicitly committed not to rake up the issue of age and to abide by the decision of the government. Sources said this was given by Gen Singh after some media reports appeared in the run-up to his selection as Army chief
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