New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS) The legal battle between Indian Army chief Gen. V.K. Singh and the government over his age sets an “unhealthy precedent”, the government said Wednesday, even as Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma met the general in a one-on-one meeting when the issue is said to have come up for discussion.

Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju Wednesday described the court case as an “unfortunate” development that does not augur well for either the defence ministry or the armed forces.

“It is an unfortunate development and it is not a healthy precedent either for the (Defence) Ministry or the armed forces… It is an unhealthy precedent. It does not auger well either for the Ministry or the forces,” Raju told reporters on the sidelines of a National Cadet Corps camp function.

Later in the day, Shashikant Sharma met Gen.Singh soon after Indian defence ministry hosted Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Bijay Gachhadar.

While Sharma was present at the meeting with Nepal’s deputy prime minister, the Indian Army was represented at the meeting by its vice chief, Lt. Gen. Sri Krishna Singh.

Gachhadar, however, met Gen. Singh later at his office in South Block, informed sources said, indicating that there is nothing much to his absence at the bilateral meeting and it was as per protocol.

Soon after these bilateral meetings, Sharma and Gen. Singh met at the latter’s office for half-an-hour and this meeting too was in relation to the debriefing on the bilateral talks held with Nepal sources said.

Much is being read into every move of the army chief since Monday, as he sued the government over his age row, challenging the defence ministry’s rejection of his statutory complaint to rectify records to indicate his birth date as May 10, 1951, instead of 1950.

A day later, the defence ministry filed a caveat in the apex court, urging it not to pass any order on the general’s petition before hearing its views.

The Supreme Court is yet to fix a date for hearing the army chief’s petition, though another public interest litigation on the same issue will come up for hearing on Friday.

The row has pitted the senior-most officer of the 1.13-million-strong army, the world’s second largest, against the government, a first in independent India.

It also has the potential to derail the succession schedule of the army, as 1950 birth year would mean Gen Singh retires in May this year and if 1951 is accepted as the birth year, he gets to serve another 10 months till March 2013, when his slated three-year tenure will end.

The army’s chief holds the posts for three-year term or till 62 years of age, whichever is earlier.

If he retires in May this year, then present Eastern Army Commander Lt. Gen. Bikram Singh is tipped to be the next chief.

If he continues till March 2013, then present Northern Army Commander Lt. Gen. K.T. Parnaik is likely to be the next chief. The succession chain of the top job of the army is decided, mostly, on the seniority principle.