New Delhi: The Supreme Court yesterday that said it will hear in the second week of July a plea seeking to restrain the government from going ahead with the appointment of Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next Indian Army chief.
A bench of Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh directed that the plea of Lt Gen Ravi Dastane be listed for hearing in the second week of July after the court was told that Lt Gen Suhag has already been appointed as the chief of army staff designate and would succeed incumbent Gen Bikram Singh on August 1.
Lt Gen Dastane’s main plea challenging the Armed Forces Tribunal’s verdict is directed to come up for hearing in September 2014. The AFT by its September 6, 2013, verdict rejected his plea challenging the appointment of Lt Gen Suhag as the chief of the army’s Eastern Command.
It is this appointment of Lt Gen Suhag which made him eligible for the army chief’s post. Lt Gen Dastane moved the Apex Court on December 17, 2013, against the AFT order.
In his application before the court, he urged the court that appointment of Lt Gen Suhag may not be carried out till his appeal was heard and decided.
Lt Gen Dastane in his application has said that when the government appointed Lt Gen Suhag and Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra as the Eastern and Western command chiefs, it went strictly by seniority, and when the names were sent to the Cabinet Committee on Appointments, there was no administrative, disciplinary or vigilance proceedings against Lt Gen Suhag.
IANS
