How did Rahul Gandhi get hard copy of Gen Naravane's 'unpublished' book?

Two days after he was repeatedly stalled in the Lok Sabha from speaking about an article based on an 'unpublished' memoir of the former Army chief General M M Naravane (retd), Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi turned up at Parliament with a copy of the book, Four Stars of Destiny, on February 4. He said he would present the book to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Rahul brandishing the hardcopy of the book, which was supposed to be unpublished as the Ministry of Defence is yet to clear it, raised questions as to how it reached him. Earlier, PTI had published excerpts of the book and recently, The Caravan published a cover story based on the manuscript of the memoir.

On that day, Rahul said, "The book is available abroad. It’s published abroad. The Modi government is not allowing it to be published here."

Speaking outside Parliament, Rahul said, "They are scared because if it comes out, the reality of Narendra Modi ji and Rajnath Singh ji will be revealed. What happened to the 56-inch chest when China was before us and advancing?" He was referring to India's response to the conflict with China in eastern Ladakh in 2020.

There has been a political uproar over the topic since then both inside and outside Parliament, with the Lok Sabha seeing multiple adjournments over Rahul not being allowed to speak on the issue.

Publishing house responds

As the controversy continued, Penguin Random House India on February 9 said it holds the exclusive publishing rights to Gen Naravane's memoir, and clarified that the book has not yet been published, amid reports of unauthorised copies in circulation.

The clarification came after the Delhi police registered an FIR over the alleged illegal circulation of the manuscript in digital and other formats.

The publishing house clarified that no copies of the book — either in print or digital form — have been released to the public.

"Penguin Random House India would like to clarify that we hold the sole publishing rights for the book 'Four Stars of Destiny', a memoir by General Manoj Mukund Naravane, former Chief of the Indian Army. We wish to make it clear that the book has not gone into publication," the publisher said in a statement.

The publisher also warned that any version of the book currently circulating, whether in full or in part and in any format, including print, PDF or online copies, would amount to copyright infringement.

Set for 2024 release

The book was set for release in 2024, with bookstores taking pre-orders and readers pre-booking it online. The launch, however, was halted.

On December 15, 2023, Gen Naravane posted on X that the book was available. "Hello friends. My book is available now. Just follow the link. Happy reading. Jai Hind," he had posted and attached a screenshot of a Penguin India post saying that the book can be pre-ordered.

Copies of Gen Naravane's memoir had reached some bookstores in Delhi and also some reviewers, before they were recalled, India Today reported. This was even as the approval from the Ministry of Defence was pending. 

Citing Gen Naravane's December 2023 post, Rahul on Tuesday accused Penguin Random House India of lying and claimed that the book was available for sale.

"Hello friends, my book is available now. Just follow the link. Happy Reading, Jai Hind. This is the tweet Mr Naravane made. Either he is lying, which I don't believe, or the Penguin is lying. Both cannot be telling the truth..." Rahul said.

What does the rule say

Serving armed forces personnel are strictly governed by the Army Act, 1950, and Army Rules, 1954, requiring prior government approval to publish books, whereas these restrictions do not apply to retired personnel. However, all, including veterans, are bound by the Official Secrets Act, 1923, for life.

Retired personnel who served in certain intelligence or security organisations listed in the Second Schedule of the Right to Information Act, require prior clearance from the head of the organisation before publishing anything related to the organisation's functioning, personnel, or sensitive matters, as mandated by the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 2021 (Rule 8).

As per the rules, Gen Naravane's manuscript was under the review of the Ministry of Defence.

This was the reason why when Rahul had sought to speak on the book in the Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that it was not available in its authorised form as it did not have clearance from the Defence Ministry.