Army chief's age: Defence ministry asks for documents

The defence ministry on Wednesday called for all documents related to army chief Gen VK Singh's date of birth (DoB) to settle the controversy over the two conflicting dates recorded in Singh's dossiers.

The defence ministry on Wednesday called for all documents related to army chief Gen VK Singh's date of birth (DoB) to settle the controversy over the two conflicting dates recorded in Singh's dossiers.

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"The records have been sought for scrutiny," said a source.

The issue began in May 2006 when the military secretary's branch detected two different DoBs for Singh in its official records.

The army chief had been maintaining his DoB as May 10, 1951 in his confidential reports and service record - contrary to the DoB shown in other official documents.

HT had on Wednesday reported how Singh made an unconditional commitment in 2008, accepting May 10, 1950 as his birth date. The matter was referred to the law ministry for its opinion.

The legal opinion accepted Singh's birth date as May 10, 1951 on the basis of his high school certificate.

If the defence ministry accepts the law ministry's opinion, Singh will retire in March 2013 instead of May 2012, giving him 10 more months as army chief.