Army chief briefs Parrikar on affidavit against V.K. Singh

Army Chief General Dalbir Singh on Thursday briefed Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar about an affidavit in which he accused former Army chief General V.K. Singh, who is now a minister in the Narendra Modi government.

Parrikar had sought details about the affidavit, which was originally filed in the Armed Forces Tribunal in 2012, wherein Dalbir Singh said he was "victimised" by the then army chief V.K. Singh "with the sole purpose of denying promotion to the appointment of Army Commander".

Sources said the affidavit was filed by Dalbir Singh in his "personal capacity" when he was not the army chief, nor was V.K. Singh a minister.

The old affidavit was resubmitted by the present army chief after the matter came before the Supreme Court.

V.K. Singh slapped a discipline and vigilance ban on Dalbir Singh between April and May 2012 for alleged "failure of command and control" in an operation in Assam's Jorhat in 2011.

The ban was lifted in June 2012 after General Bikram Singh succeeded V.K. Singh as the army chief.

Dalbir Singh was then appointed commander of the army's Eastern Command.

--IANS

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