General Vijay Kumar Singh PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC is the 24th Indian General of the Indian Army

and currently the Chief of Army Staff. He is the first trained commando to become Army General and was also the first serving Indian military chief to take the Government to court.
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1 Early life and education 2 Military career 3 Bribe offer 4 Honours and awards 5 Popular culture 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit]Early

life and education

Vijay Kumar Singh comes from Bapora village in Bhiwani district in the Indian stateof Haryana. He is a third-generation officer.[1] His father was a Colonel in the Indian Army and grandfather a senior Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO). Singh was educated at Birla Public School, Pilani, Rajasthan.[2] [edit]Military

career

Singh was commissioned into the 2nd Battalion of The Rajput Regiment (Kali Chindi) on 14 June 1970. He went on to command the same unit when it was positioned along the Line of Control with Pakistan.[3] He graduated from the Defence Services Staff College as a honours graduate of theUnited States Army Infantry School, a graduate of the Rangers Course at Fort Benning and the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.[4] In the US for the Rangers course, he came first in combat operations. Singh is experienced in counter insurgency operations and high altitude operations. He has also seen action in the 1971 Bangladesh war. During his career he has served in various positions:

Military Operations Directorate at the Army Headquarters. Brigadier General Staff of a Corps during 'Operation Parakram' when Indian troops were mobilised on the border in the wake of the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001. Commanded[1] Ambala-based 2 Corps and Jalandhar based 11 Corps in Punjab state. Instructor in the Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT) headquarters in Bhutan.

Singh was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) for distinguished service while commanding a counter-insurgency force. [5] He became Chief of Army Staff on 31 March 2010, and was the first commando to achieve that position.[4] It was announced on 3 March 2012 that Bikram Singh would succeed him in that post from 31 May 2012.[6] Prior to that announcement, there had been a dispute regarding the incumbent's date of birth and this cause Vijay Singh to become the first serving officer of the Indian Army to take the government to court.[7] As a consequence of an error made when he had enrolled with the National Defence Academy in 1965, official records mis-stated the year in which he was born. On 10 February 2012 Singh withdrew his writ when, according to The Hindu, the Supreme Court "refused to intervene". The Court noted that there was no dispute regarding his actual date of birth and that the matter being contested was regarding how that had been recorded. It ruled that Singh had on three occasions accepted the misrecorded date.[8] [edit]Bribe

offer

In an interview with The Hindu published on 26 March 2012 he said a lobbyist, whom he did not identify but who was suggested elsewhere to be retired Lieutenant-General Tejinder Singh,[7] offered him a bribe of 14 crore (US$2.79 million) in order to have a tranche of 600 sub-standard vehicles manufactured by Tatra cleared for purchase.[9] In the same interview he also said that he had informed the Defence minister, A. K. Antony, of the matter.[10] According to supporters of Vijay Singh, his decision to inform Antony complied with regulations that make it "the duty of every officer to bring to the notice of his superior, and if the superior is involved, then to the next superior officer, all cases of dishonesty."[11] The reaction was immediate: on the same day, both Houses of the Indian Parliament adjourned minutes after their proceedings had commenced[10] and the government ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry.[12] Antony acknowledged being informed of the allegation, as Singh had claimed, but said that he had instructed Singh to take action and that the officer had been unwilling to do so for reasons that were unknown to him.[13] Tejinder Singh denied any involvement and threatened legal action in response to the "media speculation".[14] He began proceedings on 27 March, when he issued a writ claiming defamation by Vijay Singh and others whom he felt had abused their position of office, namely S. K. Singh (Vice-Chief of Army staff), Lt. Gen. B. S. Thakur (D G MI), Major General S. L. Narshiman (Additional Director General of Public Information and Lt. Col. Hitten Sawhney. Tejinder Singh said that he neither worked for nor represented Tatra, that he had last met Vijay Singh in September 2010, and that comments by those officers whom he had accused and also press releases issued by the Arny constituted a breach of the Defence Technical Publicity Rules, 2004.[13] [edit]Honours

and awards

On 11 March 2011, Singh was inducted into the United States Army War College (Class of 2001 graduate) International Fellows Hall of Fame. He is the 33rd International Fellow and the first Indian Armed Forces officer to be inducted. [15]

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Yudh Seva Medal for his distinguished service during Operation Pawan[1] Ranger Tab