On a day the BJP moved the Election Commission protesting the Government’s plan to appoint Army Chief General Bikram Singh’s successor, the Army on Saturday forwarded to the Defence Ministry the names of three of its officers for the top job.
The officers include lt General Dalbir Suhag, the senior most after present Chief; lt General Anil Chait and lt General Ashok Singh. The new chief may be announced in the first week of May. While the Government set aside the seniority principle and appointed Rabinder Kumar Dhowan as the new Navy Chief, the Army has adhered to the seniority list and recommended Suhag’s name as the new Chief after Bikram Singh retires on July 31. The Government’s appointment of Dhowan has kicked-off a controversy with his senior Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha offering to quit for having been superseded.
At present, Suhag is Vice Chief of Army staff while Chait is heading the Integrated Defence staff. Ashok Singh is the head of Southern Command. Chait may not figure in the race as he retires on May 31 itself. Thus, the two main contenders will be Suhag and Ashok Singh, who is also related to former Army Chief General VK Singh, sources said.
Days before retiring, VK Singh had initiated vigilance proceedings against Suhag in 2012. The proceedings were dropped when Bikram Singh assumed charge and Suhag became Eastern Command Chief before shifting to Delhi some months ago as Vice Chief. VK Singh is now contesting the lok Sabha polls as the BJP candidate from Ghaziabad.
Maintaining that the Government is well within norms to select the new Chief, sources said here due approval will be taken from the Election Commission before announcing the name as was done in the case of Dhowan. They also said the Election Commission had given the go-ahead to the Government for taking administrative decisions including transfers, postings and appointments.
The Election Commission, in an order on March 27 had said that the model of conduct is not applicable to any matter related directly to Defence forces, be it recruitments or promotions, all Service maters pertaining to them, Defence purchases of all kinds and tenders related to matters of Defence forces. Consequently, no reference needs to be sent to the Election Commission and these standing instructions will be applicable to all elections in future, the order said.
Officials said traditionally the new chief’s name is announced at least two months before the incumbent is due to retire. In fact, Bikram Singh’s name was announced three months before VK Singh’s retirement in 2012, they recalled.
Moreover, the short-listing of contenders starts at least six months before the present chief hangs his boots and the process includes vetting service records of the candidates. Once the list is firmed up, the concerned Service sends the list to the Defence Ministry, which, in turn, seeks report from the IB and CVC before finalizing the names. This list is then scrutinized by Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC), headed by the Prime Minister and comprising Defence Minister, following which the name of new chief is announced.
Given this situation, officials said the new Government will assume office in the third week of May and may take more than a month to go through appointment process thereby upsetting the long followed convention of announcing the name well in advance.
The Defence Ministry will also take a call next week on Western Command chief Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha’s letter seeking voluntary retirement after he was overlooked for the Navy chief’s post.
The Government will also announce the names of new Vice Chief of Naval Staff and Western Command next week as these posts fell vacant. Dhowan was Vice Chief and acting Navy chief since February 26 when Admiral DK Joshi resigned owning moral responsibility for a series of mishaps involving warships.
“Moreover, if Sinha’s offer is also accepted, the Government will have to appoint the new Western Command chief,” sources said adding this command is the most prestigious and strategically important command of Navy and cannot be without a head for a long time.