Age Row: Army Chief Vs Govt in Supreme Court today

The Supreme court will resume hearing Army chief General VK Singh's case against the government today. The government is expected to file a reply in the Supreme Court on Friday after being pulled by the apex court last week over General Singh's date of birth confusion.The discrepancy in the Army Chief's year of birth stems from two sets of records - one with the army adjutant general's branch indicating it as 1951 and the military secretary's branch that showed it as 1950.[caption id="attachment_209301" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Gen VK Singh. AFP"][/caption]The dispute over the army chief's real age has been on for sometime. The age seems crucial to deciding when Gen V K Singh must retire.Gen VK Singh contends he was born in 1951. However,  school certificate, ID card, license, passport reflects Gen Singh's DoB as 10 May, 1951. The defence ministry contends Singh's year of birth as 1950, as recorded by Military Secretary's branch.General Singh had on Wednesday filed more documents in the apex court in support of his plea, ahead of the hearing when the bench would decide if it would admit the plea.Last week, General Singh's petition was adjourned by the Supreme Court till Friday, giving the General and the Central Government more time to resolve the controversy.The apex court criticised the government's handling of the controversy.The Army Chief approached the apex court against the defence ministry's December 30 order rejecting his statutory complaint against the government fixing his year of birth as 1950, going by which he would have to retire May 31 2012.If 1950 is accepted, Gen Singh will retire  this year but if 1951 is accepted, Gen Singh can serve another year.