'Victimised' army chief launches unprecedented salvo on V K Singh
NEW DELHI: IN what was an unprecedented instance of a serving army officer speaking out against his predecessor, Chief of Army Staff Dalbir Singh on Thursday accused General (retd) V K Singh, who is now the Minister of State for External Affairs, of victimising him by trying to block his promotion.
In an affidavit filed in his personal capacity to the Supreme Court, Dalbir Singh said, “I was sought to be victimised by the then COAS (Chief of the Army Staff) with the sole purpose of denying promotion to the appointment of Army Commander. False, baseless and imaginary allegations of lapses were levelled against me in the show cause notice (of May 19, 2012).”
The affidavit was filed in response to a petition by Lt Gen (Retd) Ravi Dastane, who had alleged favouritism during the selection of the Army Commander. Dastane had alleged in his plea that he was eligible to be the Army Commander but was denied the opportunity by General Bikram Singh, who had favoured Dalbir Singh for the post despite his being under a DV ( Disciplinary and Vigilance) ban at the time.
The Ministry of Defence had rejected Dastane’s contention and censured the manner in which V K Singh had placed Dalbir Singh under a DV ban