Govt advises Army Chief to amend date of birth

New Delhi: The Defence Ministry has written a letter to the Army Adjutant General's branch and advised them to change the date of birth record of Indian Army Chief General VK Singh, TV reports said on Sunday.

The Defence Ministry has reportedly asked the Army Adjutant General's branch to amend the date of birth of Singh to show May 1950.

Singh had dragged the government to the court as he filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court over the age row.

In response to the move made by Singh, the government also filed a caveat in the Supreme Court in connection with the ongoing controversy over Singh's age.

Troubles erupted when Singh claimed that his year of birth is 1951 and not 1950 as recorded by the Ministry of Defence.

The official records of the Army show two different dates of birth for Singh.

In one record, his date of birth is maintained as May 10th, 1951 and the other shows him to be born on May 10th, 1950.

Singh is likely to retire from his post in 2012 as the Ministry rejected his application seeking a correction of his date of birth.

He said that the controversies erupted due to a form that he had filled up at the age of 15.

He claimed that the clerk had listed his age as 16 instead of 15 in the Union Public Services (UPSC) examination form for National Defence Academy.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that was filed in favour of Singh by an association of ex-army officers in connection to the age row.