New Delhi, Mar 3, (PTI): The government on Saturday announced the appointment of Lt Gen Bikram Singh as the next Army Chief from May 31. He will succeed Gen V K Singh.

The 59-year-old Singh, now the Eastern Army Commander, will head 13 lakh strong force and have tenure of just over two years till August 2014.

“Lt Gen Singh has been designated as the next Chief of Army Staff, in the rank of General, with effect from the afternoon of 31 May 2012,” Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said here. “He will succeed the present COAS Gen V K Singh, who retires from the service on May 31,” he added.

Usually, the appointment of Chiefs of Defence Services is announced 60 days in advance but in this case, the government made the announcement 90 days in advance. Lt Gen Bikram Singh was the senior most among the present Army Commanders but his appointment as the Chief of Army Staff had been in doubt when Gen V K Singh sought to get his date of birth corrected in the records. A change would have given Gen VK Singh tenure till April next year.

Gen V K Singh, who had two dates of birth in his official records, had dragged the government to the Supreme Court, contending that he was born on May 10, 1951 and not a year earlier. However, the top court refused to accept his contention, holding that he had taken promotions on the basis of May 10, 1950, as his date of birth and could not “resile” on his commitment accepting that date.

Lt Gen Bikram Singh was commissioned into the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment on 31 March 1972 and has served in various key formations during his 40-year career. Among the various positions held by him, he has commanded Srinagar-based 15 Corps during militancy. He has also served as Deputy Force Commander of a multi-nation UN Peace Keeping Mission in Congo and as UN Observer in Nicaragua and El Salvador during the early 1990s.