The former Army chief in controversy. Tribune photo
R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, August 18 Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag has again embarrassed Minister of State for External Affairs Gen Vijay Kumar Singh (retd) by repeating his contention that the minister while leading the army had tried to spoil his chances of getting promotion as Army Commander in June 2012 by levelling “false, baseless and imaginary allegations of lapses” in May 2012.In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, Gen Suhag said the alleged lapses pertained to an operation conducted by the 3 Corps Intelligence and Surveillance Unit at Jorhat, Assam, on December 20-21, 2011. He said he was not even on duty on that day as he was on annual leave and rejoined duty on December 26.He pleaded that the Court of Inquiry convened by the Eastern Command headquarters did not find “any iota of evidence of any lapse” against him, nor had he been blamed by any agency. Nevertheless, he was served a show-cause notice in May.“Despite there being no evidence against me at the Court of Inquiry, the show-cause notice was issued as it is clearly established now from the affidavit filed by the Respondents 1 and 2 (Centre and Army) as well as the findings of the Armed Forces Tribunal” on September 6, 2013, Gen Suhag contended.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)“I was sought to be victimised by the then Chief of Army Staff (Gen VK Singh) with the sole purpose of denying me promotion to the post of Army Commander. The show-cause notice issued, besides suffering from vagueness, was premeditated and also against the principles of natural justice,” he maintained.Gen Suhag has filed the affidavit in response to a Supreme Court notice on an appeal by Lt Gen Ravi Dastane, who has challenged Suhag’s promotion as Army Commander on June 15, 2012, ignoring the show-cause notice issued to him. Lt Gen Dastane came to the SC after losing his case in the AFT on September 6, 2013.Lt Gen Dastane has named Gen Suhag as respondent number 3 (R3), while the Centre and the Army are R1 and R2.Rejecting Lt Gen Dastane’s claim that he was a victim as he was not considered for the post of Army Commander in 2012, Gen Suhag narrated the developments pertaining to the show-cause notice served on him and pleaded that he was the actual victim, not the appellant.Gen Suhag had made the same statement before the AFT also and has repeated it now as Lt Gen Dastane has come in appeal to the SC.
VK Singh’s wife alleges blackmail
New Delhi: Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh’s wife Bharti Singh has filed a complaint with the Delhi Police against a property dealer, alleging that he was trying to extort Rs 2 crore from her by blackmailing her with “doctored” audio-video clips to defame her husband. The police said Bharti Singh had lodged a complaint at the Tughlaq Road police station. She has alleged that Pradeep Chauhan, her nephew’s friend, threatened her of “dire consequences” if the money was not paid to him. An FIR has been registered under Sections 384 (extortion) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. TNS
