Age row: General loses battle to govt.

Indian Army chief General V K Singh on Friday withdrew the petition against the government in connection with his age row.

The Supreme Court disposed of his petition and it directed Singh to accept May 10, 1950 as his date of birth.

The court also said that if Singh did not withdraw the plea then it would pass an order on the issue.

The army chief decided not to press the matter further and he would retire as per the date of birth he accepted- May 10, 1950.

"The matter has been solved amicably by both parties. It is a victory of both sides. We have withdrawn the petition," said Puneet Bali, counsel for General V K Singh.

"We are absolutely satisfied," he said, adding that the integrity of the General has been restored by the statement of the Attorney General.

Attorney General E Vahanvati had told the court that even though the government was resisting the General´s petition, the government was not against the army chief and had never questioned his bonafides.

Singh, in an unprecedented move, had taken the government to Supreme Court after his statutory complaint before defence minister A K Antony with his demand was rejected.

Singh, who is slated to retire on May 31, 2012, according to the government, could claim to be in service until March 31, 2013 if his contention is upheld.

Singh claims that his year of birth is 1951 and not 1950 as recorded by the Ministry of Defence, saying that the error cropped up due to a clerk who had listed his age as 16 instead of 15 in the Union Public Services (UPSC) examination form for National Defence Academy.