Delhi Police Issues Notice To Penguin Over Controversy Surrounding Gen Naravane’s Unreleased Memoir

The Delhi Police on Wednesday issued a notice to Penguin Random House India after a major controversy erupted over the unpublished memoir of former Army Chief General MM Naravane. The move came hours after an India Today Digital report questioned how Congress leader Rahul Gandhi obtained the book despite it not being officially released.

Officials said the notice seeks answers from the publisher regarding the circulation of the manuscript and asks Penguin to cooperate with the investigation. The Delhi Police Special Cell has registered a case alleging criminal conspiracy linked to the suspected leak of the unpublished material. An FIR was filed shortly after the report, following which Penguin issued two separate clarifications within a day.

The row began after Rahul Gandhi attempted to quote from Naravane’s memoir, Four Stars of Destiny, in the Lok Sabha while criticising the government. He referred to passages allegedly describing hesitation by the political leadership during the 2020 India–China standoff along the Line of Actual Control, including claims that Naravane was told to act as he deemed fit when Chinese tanks crossed into Indian territory.

The BJP strongly objected, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh leading the protest and arguing that an unpublished book could not be cited in Parliament. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla later ruled that Gandhi could not quote from the memoir, calling it unpublished and unauthenticated material.

Gandhi subsequently displayed a hardbound copy of the book within the Parliament complex, questioning the government’s claim that the book did not exist and stating that he intended to gift a copy to the Prime Minister. This further fuelled the controversy, intensifying questions over how an unreleased book reached him.

Penguin Random House India clarified that the memoir has not been formally released and is still awaiting clearance from the Ministry of Defence. The publisher warned that any physical copies or PDFs in circulation would constitute copyright violations. General Naravane also reiterated that the book had not yet been officially published.

Rahul Gandhi countered these claims by citing a 2023 social media post by Naravane stating that the book was available, and pointed out that it had been listed for pre-order on Amazon. He suggested that either the publisher or the former Army Chief was being misleading, adding that he chose to trust the Army Chief’s statement. Penguin later issued another clarification, stating that the book was only available for pre-order and not yet on sale.

As the dispute escalated, the Delhi Police registered a case over the alleged illegal circulation of the manuscript in digital and other formats. The BJP accused Rahul Gandhi of misleading Parliament and demanded an apology, alleging that he had presented unverified and fictional content before the country.