Suhag Eastern Command chief

NEW DELHI: The government has cleared the appointment of Lt-General Dalbir Singh Suhag, on whom previous Army chief General V K Singh had imposed a discipline and vigilance (DV) promotion ban, as the new chief of the Eastern Army Command in Kolkata.
This comes after the new Army chief Gen Bikram Singh on June 8 lifted the DV ban on Lt-Gen Suhag, the 3 Corps commander at Dimapur.Lt-Gen Suhag is tipped to be the next Army chief.
Gen Bikram Singh lifted the DV ban on Lt-Gen Suhag after accepting his explanation to the showcause censure notice imposed on him by Gen V K Singh merely days before his retirement on May 31.
Lt-Gen Suhag’s name had been sent to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) in May as the proposed successor to the then Eastern Army commander Gen Bikram Singh but it had got derailed due to the ban.
In his showcause notice, Gen V K Singh had charged Lt-Gen Suhag with ‘abdicating responsibility’ in handling a botched operation by an intelligence and surveillance unit under him in ‘a most unprofessional and lackadaisical manner’.
But as it came in the backdrop of Gen V K Singh’s known aversion to the Bikram-Suhag line of succession; it was seen as a result of the feuds engulfing the Army.
Even the defence ministry had wanted to ascertain whether Gen V K Singh’s action involved ‘any bias or vindictiveness’ since Lt-Gen Suhag was not given any chance to respond to the showcause notice before being placed in the DV ban category.