No vindictiveness in show cause notice: Army chief

New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) There was no vindictiveness in issuing a show cause notice to an officer who is in line to succeed the Indian Army chief-designate, incumbent Gen. V.K. Singh asserted Friday, adding it was the 'moral duty' of the officer to answer the charge.

'There is no vindictiveness involved. The show cause notice was issued on facts. It is for the officer to reply on moral grounds and not go running to the media,' Gen. Singh told reporters on the sidelines of the release of a book 'Assault on Merit', whose subtitle is 'The untold story of civil-military relations'.

The army chief had earlier this week issued a show cause notice to Lt. Gen. B.S. Suhag for an alleged botched operation when he was a corps commander in the northeast.

In the normal line of succession, Lt. Gen Suhag will succeed Lt. Gen. Bikram Singh, the current commander of the Eastern Command, who will succeed Gen. V.K. Singh Singh when he retires May 31.