GENERAL ESTOPPED

Few days back, Indian Chief of Army Staff, General V.K. Singh knocked the door of Supreme Court of India against the Union of India in respect of dispute regarding his birth year. The Court heard both the parties and offered an opportunity to the Chief to withdraw the petition. The Chief withdrew the petition. The Supreme Court made it clear that it cannot examine Chief’s matriculation certificate or SLC as evidence for the date of birth under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. On one hand the Court ruled in favour of the government but on the other hand its decision left the Chief with two years of birth. The Court found it incapable to determine the exact date of birth under Article 32. The technical reason behind this is that the Chief moved to the Supreme Court directly for determination of his date of birth. The Court found no alternative but to fall back on the procedure. Had Mr. V.K. Singh argued his case on matriculation certificate or SLC, he would have had to go to the civil court or to the Armed Forces Tribunal. Mr. Singh did not choose such route and approached Supreme Court directly. Therefore, in one sense it can be said that the matter has been resolved up to a certain extent.

In this very case of Chief versus Union of India, the Supreme Court invoked the principle of ‘estoppel’ which precludes a person from asserting something contrary to what is implied by a previous action or statement of that person. Since, Mr. V.K. Singh had accepted in 2008 and in 2009 that 1950 was his birth year, he could not now claim that was different from his previous acceptance of 1950 as his year of birth.

It was really unfortunate for a country like India where the Chief of Army Staff had to move to the Supreme Court against the Union of India to get the said dispute resolved. In fact, the government never tried to resolve the matter amicably out of the Court by maintaining the dignity and integrity of the Chief. The government adopted a stubborn view. Anyway, the controversy is over.