EC to block new Army Chief, allow govt to appoint 'Snoopgate' judge?

The BJP, which has protested the appointment of a new Army chief before the election results are out, may just have its way with reports indicating the Election Commission may ask the UPA government to defer its decision until after the new government is in place. Law minister Kapil Sibal, on the other hand, may get his way  in appointing a judge to head a commission to probe allegations of snooping on a woman against Narendra Modi’s Gujarat government before the election results on 16 May. A report said that given the Cabinet decision to appoint a commission was taken well before the elections, it was unlikely that the Election Commission would interfere with the appointment of a judge to head it. Despite speculation over the appointment of a new army chief, the Election Commission today said it will consider the issue of the appointment of the next Army chief at a meeting of its top brass next week. [caption id=“attachment_1506787” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Suhag is the frontrunner to be the next army chief. Image courtesy: PIB[/caption] “We have received a reference from the Defence Ministry and the issue is under examination. But no decision has been taken so far. The matter has so far not been placed on the agenda of the ‘full commission’ (the Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners),” a senior EC official told PTI here. “The meeting could take place on Monday or Tuesday where the matter would be considered,” the official said. The poll panel will consider the matter in the light of its 27 March order that appointments, promotions, tenders and procurements of defence forces are not covered under the Model Code of Conduct in the ongoing elections as well as any other election in the future as well as complaints from BJP that the government was rushing with the appointment of the next Chief of Army Staff. Amid strong opposition by the BJP to the appointment of the next Army chief, the Government had referred the matter to the Election Commission saying any decision will be taken only after getting its nod. A Times of India report said that the commission could order the appointment of the Army chief to be deferred since it wasn’t essential to name a successor to General Bikram Singh. Singh’s tenure ends only on 31 July and the appointment needed to be made two months ahead of his retirement. The report quoted an named Election Commission official as saying that the appointment of the Army chief while on its last legs was unnecessary and avoidable. However, an Asian Age report quoted commission officials as saying that it was likely to give a go-ahead to the appointment of a new Army chief since it was an ‘apolitical’ appointment. Army Vice Chief Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag is the front-runner for appointment to the top post but his appointment has been mired in controversy with it being strongly opposed by former army chief VK Singh , who is a BJP candidate in this election. Singh, as this Sunday Guardian article points out, has been going out of his way to alter the succession chain for the Army Chief’s post and the article points at Lt Gen Ashok Singh being the biggest beneficiary of it. Lt Gen Ashok Singh, incidentally, is related to the former army chief since their children are married. The article also chronicles the various attempts made to discredit both present Army Chief General Bikram Singh and Lt Gen Suhag before their appointments and disrupt the current chain of succession. While the BJP and Congress will have to finally wait for the Election Commission’s decision, no matter which way it goes, its unlikely that it will end the acrimony over the issue. with inputs from PTI