'I cannot quit... Organisational interests are supreme'

Army Chief Gen VK Singh, who lost his battle with the defence ministry on the age row, feels the Supreme Court has "not not effectively" closed the issue but ruled out his resignation.

Army Chief Gen VK Singh, who lost his battle with the defence ministry on the age row, feels the Supreme Court has "not not effectively" closed the issue but ruled out his resignation.

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"It would be dishonest to say that that I was not under pressure to resign. Even my closest advisors were affected by the media interpretation and, yes, I was extremely disappointed that the Supreme Court had not not effectively closed the issue."

"... as Chief of Army Staff, I have a responsibility towards the army and its men and have to attend to the unfinished tasks that I had set out for myself. I cannot quit until I complete what I have started. Organisational interests are supreme," he told Outlook magazine in an interview.

Gen Singh said many commentators were looking at this matter as a classic case of strained civil-military relations, and drew parallels with the unfinished resignation of Gen KS Thimmayya, to predict his resignation.

"But I see the age as something that I and the army have to address, and we will do it once we are a given legal order," he said in reply to a question about the wide speculation that he would resign since the Supreme Court did not not upheld his case.

Gen Singh said the apex court order has created more confusion, without addressing the main issue.

It talks of a statutory complaint being divided into two parts -- the process of decision-making on the one hand and maintainability on the other.