NEW DELHI: Indian Army chief General V.K. Singh, who was till a fortnight ago engaged in a bitter legal battle over his date of birth, was Tuesday issued his retirement notice making it clear that he will superannuate May 31.
The Retirement Warning Letter (RWL), as the notice is called, was issued to him by the Military Secretary's branch, based on May 10, 1950 as his date of birth, government sources said here.
The order has effectively brought the curtains down on a controversy that lasted for nearly 23 months of Gen. Singh's 26-month tenure at the helm of the world's second largest standing army of 1.13-million personnel.
The stage has also been set for the selection of Gen. Singh's successor from a panel of three senior-most officers - Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Bikram Singh, Army Vice Chief Lieutenant General Sri Krishna Singh and Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General K.T. Parnaik.
The RWL, which is usually issued about 10 months ahead of retirement, was delayed in Gen. Singh's, as he had gone to court over seeking that official records indicate May 10, 1951 as his birth date. If this had been accepted, he would have got an additional 10 months in service and would have retired in March 2013.
Gen. Singh withdrew his petition Feb 10 after the government took back its Dec. 30, 2011 order rejecting the statutory complaint filed by him. This paved the was for the RWL to be issued.