The government has refuted that it had to play any role in Army Chief General V.K. Singh's age issue.

Talking to newsmen on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi Tuesday morning, the Defence Minister Mr. A.K. Antony said that the discrepancy occurred as the Army had kept two sets of his date of birth for 36 years.

He said this discrepancy was first noticed in 2006 by the Army headquarters and reconciled at that level then and later in 2008 by two respective chiefs.

The Minister also maintained that there was no civil-military confrontation. Calling the whole issue unfortunate Mr. Antony said that the issue is before the Supreme Court and one should wait for the verdict.