NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a PIL questioning the appointment of Lt Gen Bikram Singh as the next Chief of Army but made it abundantly clear that its order would not affect any pending proceedings against him in cases including an alleged fake encounter in Jammu and Kashmir.
A Bench comprising Justice R M Lodha and Justice H L Gokhale asked for the file on Lt Gen Bikram Singh’s appointment and went through it during the post-lunch session.
After going through the confidential report, the Bench said that the government had considered various allegations against him before clearing his appointment and opined that there was no justiciable ground for hearing the PIL. “We have carefully gone through the averments made in the petition. We do not find any justiciable ground to entertain the petition,” Justice Lodha said dismissing the PIL filed by some top retired bureaucrats, including former Naval Chief Admiral L Ramdas.
The court also refused to reopen the age controversy relating to incumbent Army Chief Gen V K Singh when the petitioners’s counsel Kamini Jaiswal raked up the issue. The Bench reminded her that the matter had already been settled by the apex court earlier.
The Bench also asked Jaiswal not to make bald allegations and sought documentary proof for the same.