NEW DELHI: Members of Parliament today quizzed Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and Army Vice-Chief S K Singh on a media report of suspicious movement of troops near the capital in January but they dismissed it as baseless.
Sharma and Singh, appearing before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, said it was normal process of testing the preparedness of the armed forces, sources said.
The two were asked to appear before the Committee to brief members on recent controversies dogging the armed forces, including the deal to procure Tatra trucks for the Army.
However, the newspaper report which said that on the night of January 16-17 an entire mechanised infantry unit based in Hisar with its fighting vehicles began moving towards Delhi, the day Army Chief Gen V K Singh approached the Supreme Court on the age issue, dominated the proceedings today.
Committee Chairman Satpal Maharaj asked the Defence Secretary and the Vice Chief of the Army to appear before the Committee on April 9 with complete facts related to the issue, they said.
Indian-Military.org:newspaper report
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NEW DELHI: The row over the affairs of the Army and its equations with the government continues to turn murkier, with a PIL in the Supreme Court alleging a "communal conspiracy behind" the rejection of Army chief General VK Singh's claim for revision of his date of birth. The PIL, filed by retired Navy chief L Ramdas, former chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami, three senior former Army officials and others, say that ex-Army chief JJ Singh, currently the governor of Arunchal Pradesh, masterminded " Operation Moses" to clear the way for Lt Gen Bikram Singh to succeed Gen VK Singh. The PIL challenging Lt Gen Bikram Singh's appointment, which has been submitted to the SC registry, has said the Arunachal governor enjoyed blessings from the highest level, and that was why the conspiracy against Gen VK Singh succeeded even when he enjoyed the sympathies of defence minister AK Antony. The PIL does not take names, but insinuates that JJ Singh could not have succeeded without support from the highest echelons, considering that he being Arunachal governor was in no position to influence the line of succession after he retired. |
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