In what was a clear victory for the government and a huge setback for Army Chief Gen. V.K. Singh, the Supreme Court on Friday upheld the decision of the ministry of defence (MoD) to treat the date of birth of Gen. Singh as May 10, 1950, and disposed of Gen. Singh’s petition.

After telling the Army Chief’s counsel that it would be better if Gen. Singh withdrew the petition, the Supreme Court said, “You should not wash dirty linen in public. But if the dirty linen is to be washed, let that stink come out. You can argue. You can wash.”