The government has approved the resignation of Nepal Army Major General Tara Dhoj Pande, who was in the running to be the army chief.

A Cabinet meeting on Thursday approved the resignation of the major general who submitted his resignation some two weeks ago after the national army launched an investigation into the controversy over his dual birth dates.

The meeting decided to approve the resignation effective from November 10, said Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma, who is also the government spokesperson.

Pande’s career prospects were marred by the controversy over his conflicting birth dates. Complaints were filed against him at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the parliament’s State Affairs Committee, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Defence Ministry, and Hello Sarkar, the government’s public complaints platform.

The national army had formed a probe committee led by Lieutenant General Sitaram Khadka at the direction of the Chief of the Army Staff Prabhu Ram Sharma.

Pande has obtained two different citizenship cards (numbered 1681-16086 and 3086), government records show. In one citizenship card, whose copy the Post has obtained, Pande’s birthday is 2023-8-23 BS, while his recent registration card released by Office of the Controller of Examinations stated that he was born on 2021-10-12 BS.

The Office of the Controller of Examination had issued the card on 2019-08-08. Pande has submitted the citizenship card issued on 2023-8-23 BS, so that he could be promoted to the Chief of Army Staff when General Sharma retired next year.

The Cabinet meeting also accepted the resignation of Energy Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire.