Army chief withdraws age petition after SC rap

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Army chief General Vijay Kumar Singh on Friday withdrew a petition to review his date of birth after the Supreme Court said it would not entertain the plea, local media reported.

The court noted the government decision to recognise Singh's year of birth as 1950 did not "suffer from perversity and is not grossly erroneous," and gave the army chief's lawyer an opportunity to withdraw the case, NDTV reported on its website.

The row stems from the fact that the defence ministry treats May 10, 1950, the date entered in Singh's services entrance exams, as his date of birth. This means he will now retire in May when he turns 62.

Singh, however, maintained that May 10, 1951, the date mentioned in his school certificate, be taken into consideration, thus giving him an extra year in office.

Singh, who heads the world's second largest standing army, had filed the writ petition in the apex court in January.

This is the first time that an Indian army chief has taken the government to court.