Age row: Army Chief meets Pranab

NEWDELHI: Ahead of the hearing of his petition seeking reconciliation of his date of birth in the Supreme Court, General V K Singh met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, sparking speculations about a compromise formula being worked out.

Pranab has been assigned to troubleshoot the age imbroglio that forced Singh to take the unprecedented step of going to the Supreme Court. General Singh met the Finance Minister on Thursday evening. However, what transpired in the meeting is still kept under wraps.While the Chief is adamant that his date of birth is May 10, 1951, - which will give him an extension of another 10 months - the Ministry of Defence has determined May 10, 1950, as his official date of birth.

In his 68-page petition, General Singh had told the Supreme Court that he was treated by the government in a manner which reflects total lack of procedure and principles of natural justice in deciding his age.“The respondent (government) needs to explain as to why the seniormost officer of the Army could be treated in a manner which reflects total lack of procedure and principles of natural justice and that too on an opinion obtained from the Attorney General,” his petition said.