Army chief rejects charge of blocking Lt General's promotion

New Delhi, May 25:

Chief Gen

rejected the charge that he was trying to block the promotion of a Lieutenant General, to whom he has issued a show cause notice, and said there was no line of succession in the Army.

Gen Singh also denied that there was any "infighting" in the Army or there was anything wrong with the organisation. "There is no line of succession in the Army. Please stop thinking about it," Gen Singh said when asked to comment on allegations that he was trying to affect the line of succession in force by issuing a show cause notice to Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, who could be Army Chief in two years.

It is being alleged that Gen Singh has put Lt Gen Suhag under Discipline and Vigilance (DV) ban stopping his elevation to the rank of Army Commander which would result in a change of line of succession in the force. Asked what was wrong with the Army and if there was any infighting, Gen Singh said, "There is no in-fighting in the Army. I think some things are being blown up unnecessarily in the media and there is no fight."

Commenting on the show cause notice issued to Lt Gen Suhag, Gen VK Singh said, "A show cause notice is issued on certain grounds by a senior officer to a junior officer. It is the moral duty of the junior to reply to that rather than running around and go to media and show it to people that he has got a notice. Why he has done it, please ask him."

Gen VK Singh had issued the notice to the 3 Corps Commander on May 19 for a failed intelligence operation by the 3 Corps Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (CISU) in Jorhat in Assam. Asked why only seven days have been given to the Lt Gen for replying to the notice, he said, "Everything has a time. If people want to escape they have to be given a time."

PTI