I advised General V K Singh to complete his duty, former President Pratibha Patil says

NASHIK: Former President of India Pratibha Patil on Friday said that she had asked then Army chief, Gen (retd) V K Singh, to continue in office instead of resigning from his post after the Supreme Court refused to entertain his petition seeking alteration of his date of birth from May 10, 1950 to May 10, 1951.

"The General approached me, offering to put in his papers after the Supreme Court's decision. I only told him that he was the Chief of the Army Staff and the responsibility on his shoulders was much more than any other office. I asked him to serve the nation till he retired," Patil, on a three-day tour of Nashik, said on Friday.

"As the President is the supreme commander of all the three forces, it was my duty to advise the General from taking any step that would have been incorrect. I therefore asked the General to complete his tenure and not put in his papers only for want of extension," Patil said, speaking of the dialogue between the two during a meeting when she was President.

Gen (retd) V K Singh in his autobiography, Courage and Conviction, has claimed that he was ready to put in his papers after the Supreme Court decision, which was a big blow to him. But Singh restrained himself from doing so, since he felt that putting in his papers would mean 'playing into the hands of those who were calling the shots'.

The officer has claimed that he had met the President seeking her advice on the issue, following which she had asked him not to quit.