General V K Singh, the chief of army staff, has opened another controversial front vis-a-vis the government by sending to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a letter written by Trinamool Congress MP, Ambika Banerjee, charging a serving Lt Gen of corruption.
Singh also issued a short statement, saying he had nothing to do with the leak of a letter sent by him to the Prime Minister on March 12, 2012, that warned of serious deficiencies in weapons systems of the military. His strongly worded statement said the leak was an act of treason and someone was trying to tar his reputation. As his letter had gone to only the defence minister and the Prime Minister’s office, the implication was that one of these two agencies had leaked it.
Ambika Banerjee’s letter was written in May last year but Singh chose to send it to the CBI just days before the officer in question, Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, currently commanding the Dimapur-based 3 Corps, was to be promoted.
Suhag is next in line to become army chief after Gen Bikram Singh, who has already been named for the job and is to take over from Gen V K Singh after May 31. Suhag was cleared for promotion on March 22, said defence Minister A K Antony, but “when I checked today, I found his promotion was pending. I do not know about the other thing (CBI enquiry),” Antony said.
CBI confirmed it had a letter from the army chief, seeking an inquiry into Suhag’s tenure as inspector-general of the Special Frontier Force (SFF), when pay-offs are alleged to have been made for the procurement of night vision devices, communication systems and parachutes. The SFF is under the administrative control of the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), the government’s counter-espionage agency.
Meantime, attempting to calm matters even as an international meet on defence matters was on in the capital, Antony said, “All the three service chiefs still enjoy the confidence of the government. They are working...Otherwise, how can they continue?” he told reporters, when asked whether Gen Singh still enjoyed the government's confidence, at a press conference to inaugurate a Defence Exposition.
Antony also defended himself against the charge that his leadership of the ministry was responsible for deficiencies. "Over the years, we are procuring more ammunition for the Army. In the last fiscal, we had spent ammunition worth Rs 11,000 crore for the Army and this year, it was Rs 12,000 crore. Every year it is increasing," he said.
Adding: "Why I am slow on modernisation is because I can't ignore the complaints of corruption. I can't throw them in the basket.”
Antony said the chief’s complaint of the leak of his letter to the PMO had been referred to the Intelligence Bureau. "I assure you, we will not leave it there. We will make every possible attempt to find the real culprits who have done this anti-national activity and they will be given the maximum punishment under the Indian Penal Code," he said.
For the first time today, the Congress party made its displeasure of the army chief’s conduct public. After batting defensively for several days, party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury said: “It is a very sensitive issue. The country is being visited by leaders, including those from our neighbouring country.
There should be restraint and constraint. Our patience should not be viewed as our weakness... Don't think he (the General) should discuss with the media what he has discussed with the defence minister...If he has grown to be the army chief, he knows the scope of his jurisprudence.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party said the government should take “immediate” note of the issues raised by Gen V K Singh, as they were “frightening”.
A Delhi court is to hear the defamation case filed by Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh against the army chief and four others, on April 10.Tejinder Singh said between March 1 and March 4, a large number of media reports had emerged with allegations of carrying out illegal off-the-air monitoring of call records of some senior officials.This was the result of a release by the media cell of the army headquarters that levelled serious allegations against him by name.
