History seems to be repeating itself in the run for the top post of the Indian Army as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Wednesday referred Lt Gen Ravi Dastane’s statutory complaint against the appointment of Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag as the Eastern Army Commander, to the Law Ministry.
Lt Gen Dastane had filed a statutory complaint with the MoD on August 6, seeking explanation as to why Eastern Army Command bordering China was kept vacant after Lt Gen Suhag - senior to him on June 1 - became ineligible for promotion due to imposition of Disciplinary and Vigilance (DV) ban.
Sources said the MoD that was bound to reply to the complaint in 90 days has referred it to the Law Ministry for advice. In 2011, the MoD had referred former Army Chief General V K Singh’s complaint for reducing his age by a year for legal advice.
The Law Ministry had opined against the former Army Chief’s request and the ensuing developments climaxed with General V K Singh dragging the government to the Supreme Court over the age.
The ongoing issue stems from the decision taken by General V K Singh during his last week in the office to impose a DV ban on Lt Gen Suhag - then Commander of Dimapur-based 3 Corps - thereby stalling his promotion as the Eastern Army Commander. The attempt was seen in the Defence establishment to alter the seniority-based succession line in the 1.1 million-strong Army as the move had thwarted the chances of Lt Gen Suhag to become Army Chief after incumbent General Bikram Singh retires.
The MoD bid its time and waited for General V K Singh to superannuate and General Bikram Singh to reverse the DV ban. After two weeks of keeping the Eastern Army Commander vacant, Lt Gen Suhag was appointed its Chief following an approval from the Appointments Committee of Cabinet.
The argument of Lt Gen Dastane - who is presently the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff - is that after Lt Gen Suhag became ineligible due to DV ban, he should have been appointed the Eastern Army Commander for being the next senior-most officer.
Sources in the MoD, however, says that the intention was “not to inflict injustice” to Lt Gen Dastane, but “to do justice” to Lt Gen Suhag.
With the Lt Gen Dastane making his intent public that he would take the government to the court if his grievances are not addressed, the Army finds itself in the thick of the storm even as the dust on the year-long battle for age by the General V K Singh has barely settled down.
The infighting among the top brass of the second-largest standing Army is again threatening to be played in full public view as sources close to Lt Gen Suhag indicated that the officer is also gearing up to move a caveat in the court on Lt Gen Dastane’s petition so that his argument is also heard before passing a judgement.
Sources also indicate that technically Lt Gen Dastane might be on strong grounds as he is claiming that imposition of DV ban was an individual officer’s problem and the system should have taken its own course as per norms.
In January, General (retired) V K Singh had dragged the government to the court claiming he was a year younger than as maintained by the MoD that effectively curtailed his tenure as the Army Chief by a year.