Army chief, the dignity of your office is at stake

What is Army chief General VK Singh up to? If his intention was to embarrass the government by disclosing to the media that he was offered Rs 14 crore as bribe to approve purchase of sub-standard vehicles, he has ended up causing collateral damage to his reputation and the dignity of his office. It is curious that the Army chief would inform the defence ministry about the bribe offer, sit silent about it for sometime and then disclose it in the media. Two questions are important here: what stopped Singh from filing a complaint immediately? And, did he follow up the issue with the defence ministry after his communication about the bribe offer? The answer to both is in the negative. “Just imagine, one of these men had the gumption to walk up to me and tell me that if I cleared the tranche, he would give me Rs 14 crore. He was offering a bribe to me, to the Army Chief,’’ said Singh. For a man serious about corruption in the Army, this should have been urgent matter. But General Singh preferred to go slow. There has to be more than what meets the eye.[caption id=“attachment_256324” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“In a mire of controversies. Image courtesy PIB”] [/caption] “Had I been the Army chief, I would have banned the company, would have investigated the retired Army officer (who approached Singh). Disciplinary action should have been taken against him…Why wasn’t it reported. An FIR should have been lodged. It’s a very serious charge,” said retired Army chief General VP Malik. The political class is also surprised at the Army chief’s inaction. “It is really unfortunate. Being a government official and head of the Indian Army, he should have registered an FIR if someone came to him and offered a bribe,” said Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari. BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu, while expressing shock at the government’s delay in initiating action on the general’s information, said the Army chief should have filed a complaint and it was unusual that he would make such a statement in public. Coming in the wake of his recent face-off with the defence ministry over his date of birth, the timing of the disclosure looks suspicious. The General is due retirement in two months. He wants to exit with a bang. He wants to extract his revenge on the government which refused to entertain his plea for a revision of his date of birth. To add to the insult, the Supreme Court also refused to look into his appeal. It is still more interesting that he would announce to the media that he would reveal the man behind the date of birth mess soon. Surely, such action does not behove an Army chief. At least, there’s no such precedent of a serving Army chief courting the media to make a point. What stops General Singh from disclosing the name now? There’s no denying that agents representing dealers in arms and others swarm the military establishment. They try to influence deals and are a big source of corruption in the defence forces, particularly in its upper echelons. The defence ministry should have taken action immediately after it was informed. It is possible that it was apathetic to the general’s complaint or there are people in the ministry who are in cahoots with people involved in pushing deals. Defence Minister AK Antony’s order for a CBI probe appears to have come tad late in the day. It should have been immediate. If he is being panned by opposition in the media, he deserves it. Antony has a reputation for impeccable integrity and the delay from his side is unacceptable. But the case of General VK Singh is more disturbing. He is a highly respected man in the Army and he does not need to go to the media to be heard. He is lowering the dignity of the institution he heads by his actions. He should bow out two months later as a proud man who held his head high not as someone highly controversial.