New Delhi: The Delhi Police’s Special Cell on Wednesday issued a notice to Penguin Random House India seeking clarifications over the circulation of the unpublished book of former Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on social media.
According to police, the Special Cell has formally approached the publishing house through the notice, posing multiple queries and seeking detailed responses.
A senior police officer said a first information report (FIR) was lodged on Monday under sections of Official Secrets Act and charges of criminal conspiracy among other offences.
“We are checking what the publishing house was doing and how the book was available in public domain without approval. We have formally approached the Penguin Random House with a written notice,” the officer said.
The move comes in the wake of reports that the manuscript of Gen Naravane’s memoir, titled ‘Four Stars of Destiny’, may have been illegally circulated in digital and other formats prior to its publication.
The issue took a political turn last week when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attempted to quote from it in the Lok Sabha, using it to target the Narendra Modi government over its alleged content. He also displayed a copy of the book to reporters outside the Parliament.
In a statement issued on Monday, Penguin Random House India said it holds exclusive publishing rights to the memoir and insisted that no copies have been released to the public.
