Delhi police on Monday registered an FIR over the alleged leak of a pre-print copy of former army chief M.M. Naravane’s “unpublished memoir” Four Stars of Destiny.

The book has triggered a political storm, bringing Parliament to a standstill after eight MPs were suspended over the issue for the remaining part of the ongoing budget session.

The police said that the necessary clearance for the publication of the controversial book was yet to be received from the relevant authorities.

In the memoir, the country’s top leadership is reportedly accused, willy-nilly, of failing to give clear directions to the army chief during the 2020 military standoff with China. Naravane was the army chief from December 2019 to April 2022, which also saw the Galwan clash in which 20 Indian soldiers
were killed.

In a statement, the Delhi police said it had taken cognisance of information found on various social media platforms and news forums claiming that a pre-print copy of the book was being circulated.

“It was also reported that the necessary clearance for publication of this book is yet to be received from the relevant authorities. Upon verification, it was found that a PDF copy of a type-set book with the same title, and apparently prepared by M/s Penguin Random House India Pvt. Limited, is available on certain websites and, also, some online marketing platforms have displayed the finished book cover as if it is available for purchase.

“To carry out a thorough investigation into this purported leak/breach of a yet to be approved publication, a case has been registered with the special cell and investigation is being taken up,” the statement said.

Last week, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, had displayed the memoir on the Parliament premises, saying he would personally hand over a copy of the book to Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he came to the Lok Sabha.

The unpublished book reportedly discusses decision-making during the 2020 face-off with China.

Earlier, Rahul was disallowed from referring to the book inside Parliament and was shouted down by the Treasury benches. Defence minister Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha that no such book had been published and so Rahul could not be allowed to quote excerpts from it.

The government had withheld permission for the book’s publication in India just ahead of its launch.

Speaking to reporters, Rahul had said while flashing a copy of the book on Parliament premises: “Narendra Modiji did not fulfil his responsibility. Gen. Naravane has written clearly that he felt really alone and that he was abandoned by the entire
establishment.”

Sources in the security establishment on Monday said the defence ministry had ordered an inquiry as to how a book that had not been given clearance for publishing had gone to press and how Rahul got hold of
a copy.

Penguin statement

Penguin Random House India on Monday night issued a statement saying Naravane’s memoir had not been published, hours after Delhi police registered an FIR.

“We wish to make it clear that the book has not gone into publication,” Penguin said in a statement.

The publisher said it held sole publishing rights for the memoir and emphasised that no copies of the book, in print or in digital form, had been published, distributed, sold or otherwise made available to the public by
Penguin.

“Any copies of the book currently in circulation, in whole or in part, whether in print, digital, PDF or any other format, online or offline, on any platform, constitutes an infringement of PRHI’s copyright and must immediately be ceased,” the statement said.