The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to advance the hearing of a plea by Lt. Gen. Ravi Dastane seeking a stay on the appointment of Lt. Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag as the Army chief, saying his rise in rank to Army Commander of Eastern Command two years back was “wholly illegal.”
Lt. Gen. Dastane, who was one of the contenders for the Army Commander’s post along with Lt. Gen. Suhag in 2012, claims he has “strong prima facie case” against the latter.
He has filed the application in a pending appeal challenging an order of the Armed Forces Tribunal, dismissing his allegations against Lt. Gen. Suhag. The application seeks to restrain Lt. Gen. Suhag from taking over as the Army Chief.
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Defence Minister Arun Jaitley recently
Mr. Jaitley was compelled to step in and clear the air after an affidavit filed by the Defence Ministry in the Supreme Court as a counter to Lt. Gen. Dastane’s case had put the government in a spot. The affidavit blamed General (Retd) V.K. Singh, former Army chief and now a Minister of State in the Modi government, of taking an “illegal, premeditated” course to stall the promotion of Lt. Gen. Suhag as Army Commander in 2012.
Appearing for Lt. Gen. Dastane, advocate R.K. Anand sought an early hearing as his client’s case would become infructuous once Lt. Gen. Suhag takes over from Army chief General Bikram Simgh on July 31, 2014.
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The Bench posted the matter for second week of July.