How did Rahul Gandhi get an unpublished book by Gen Naravane?

In 2024, Four Stars of Destiny, the memoir of former Army Chief General MM Naravane (Retd) was set for release, with bookstores taking pre-orders and readers pre-booking it online. However, the launch was halted. It is now 2026, and the book remains unpublished. But a hardback copy of Gen Naravane's book surfaced last week, not in the black markets, but in Parliament, in the hands of Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. What he was waving wasn't a manuscript, but a printed hardcover copy of the book.

The question is obvious: how did a book, which was not meant to go to press without clearance from the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and which Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said "does not exist", reach Rahul Gandhi?

Just like you and I, millions asked this question. We tried to talk to people and understand the publishing process. While there is no clear answer yet, connecting the dots leads us somewhere.

A memoir chronicling four decades of service of Gen Naravane in the Indian Army, the book was packed with details from the retired top military man's journey — from a Second Lieutenant to a General who oversaw India's biggest military confrontation with China since the 1962 Indo-China war. The publisher of the book is Penguin Randomhouse India.

During the post-Budget session of Parliament, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set to move the Motion of Thanks after the Union Budget, the Lok Sabha was rocked by the contents of a magazine article, based on Gen Naravane's unpublished memoir, read out by Rahul Gandhi.

Gandhi spoke for less than five minutes. Yet, BJP's top brass, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, launched a barrage of attacks on the Leader of the Opposition over the material he was quoting.

When Rajnath Singh asked, "Has that book where all these things have been written been published? If it has been published, quote them, if it has not been published it is not appropriate to refer to them."

Within two days, Rahul Gandhi came to Parliament, brandishing a copy of Four Stars of Destiny, Gen Naravane's unpublished memoir, saying he wanted to "gift it to the Prime Minister".

So, how did a book that even the Union Defence Minister was confident hadn't been published suddenly appear?

In a world where content spreads like wildfire, a "pre-print copy" of Four Stars of Destiny, yet unapproved, was reportedly being shared online.

Hours after India Today Digital asked the crucial question, the Delhi Police on Monday registered an FIR over the circulation of the unapproved and unpublished book.

GENERAL NARAVANE'S BOOK AN EXCEPTION: MoD CLEARED 35 BOOKS IN LAST FIVE YEARS

Packed with insights that civilians rarely get first-hand access to, books authored by military chiefs are keenly followed across the world. Several Indian Generals, Air Marshals, and Admirals have published memoirs, recounting battlefields and command decisions that were crucial in shaping India's course.

General Naravane's book, Four Stars of Destiny, however, is an outlier. The Defence Ministry has cleared 35 books between 2020 and 2024, with Four Stars of Destiny remaining the only manuscript still pending, according to a report in The Indian Express.

The publisher, Penguin Randomhouse, described the memoir as: "General Naravane shares lessons on leadership and management with universal applicability, and gives us an insider's perspective on what more needs to be done to make the Armed Forces a more potent instrument of national power, ready to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century."

The Opposition has said General Naravane's memoir seems to have touched a raw nerve, as among its subjects are the India-China clash along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and the controversial Agnipath recruitment scheme. The contents, and a few excerpts from the memoir, were quoted by news agency PTI in 2023.

A book is sent for approval to the MoD as a typescript or manuscript before it is printed and bound into a book. It is the manuscript, and not a physical copy of the book, that was accessed by The Caravan magazine, whose report Rahul Gandhi wanted to quote from in the Lok Sabha.

In an interview with The Wire, the author of the article, Sushant Singh, said he had written to the MoD, Gen Naravane, and Penguin, well in advance before the article appeared in the magazine. However, none replied to his emails.

"This thing [the article] has been out there for a week almost and nobody has rebutted or denied (it), neither General Naravane, nor the Defence Ministry, nor the publishers have denied that this manuscript does not exist...," said Sushant Singh when asked about the authenticity of the material he had based his article on. "Neither General Naravane, nor the Ministry of Defence, have refuted the claims of what has been mentioned in the article," he added

However, what surprised even Sushant Singh was the sight of a hard copy of the book. While The Caravan article mentioned that General MM Naravane's manuscript had been around for over two years, the author seemingly did not know that it had been processed into a book and that it was out there.

His surprise, like most of ours, is legitimate. How could the publisher go ahead and convert a manuscript related to matters of defence into a book without the approval of the MoD? Did the government have second thoughts after approving the manuscript? Penguin Randomhouse hasn't responded to an email from India Today Digital seeking response if approval was taken from the MoD before publishing Gen Naravane's memoir.

India Today Digital has verified that published copies of Gen Naravane's memoir, Four Stars of Destiny, reached bookstores in Delhi, before being recalled. It has also spoken to a person who is not part of the publishing industry and has seen physical copies of Four Stars of Destiny in a store of a popular bookstore in Delhi ready for sale.

"We took hundreds of pre-orders for the book. Our loyal customers do that. But a controversy happened, and we had to return the books to the publisher," a staffer at a legacy bookstore in New Delhi told India Today Digital last week, pointing out that the book was published well ahead of the planned April 2024 launch.

But can a publisher really go ahead with the printing of a defence-related book with sensitive information while it's still under review by the government?

WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE FOR PRINTING BOOKS BY MILITARY CHIEFS?

In India, retired armed forces personnel are not bound by the Army Act, 1950 or the Army Rules, 1954 when it comes to publishing books. Those laws — and the requirement for prior government approval — apply only to serving officers. Once an officer retires, they are free from the restrictions.

However, what remains in force is the Official Secrets Act, 1923, which applies for life. It makes it a criminal offence to disclose any classified information or material that could harm national security, India's sovereignty, or friendly relations with foreign states—regardless of how many years have passed since retirement.

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

Failure to obtain clearance can lead to withholding or reduction of pension.

For most regular Army, Navy, or Air Force officers who did not serve in those specified intelligence roles, no statutory prior-approval mechanism exists after retirement.

Many retired officers and their publishers still voluntarily send manuscripts to the MoD or Service Headquarters as a precaution—to avoid any risk of prosecution under the Official Secrets Act or other unforeseen sensitivities.

Lt Gen KJS Dhillon (Retd), discussed the clearance process for military books, specifically in the context of Gen Naravane's unpublished book, in an interview with India Today TV.

Regarding the manuscript submission to the MoD, Lt Gen Dhillon stated, "There is no problem in getting clearance if you are not violating any norms..." But he emphasised, "Serving or retired officers writing about operational matters must submit the manuscript to Army Headquarters for approval."

He also outlined a three-tier vetting process at Army HQ, which could result in a straightforward approval after review, collaborative edits to remove sensitive content, or withholding permission if the material jeopardises national security.

DID PENGUIN RANDOMHOUSE PUBLISH GEN NARAVANE'S BOOK WITHOUT APPROVAL?

Four Stars of Destiny was set for release in April 2024, and the publisher and Gen Naravane started pre-launch publicity for it in 2023 itself. However, the manuscript is said to be stuck in the approval process.

Last year, when asked about the matter at the Khushwant Singh Literature Festival, Gen Naravane said that the publishers were still waiting for reviews from the Defence Ministry. "It is still under review for more than a year now," he said.

A manuscript is mostly circulated as a soft copy, but for it to be converted into a physical book, the typescript needs to be printed and bound. There is investment involved. Even small changes or tweaks might involve reprinting and reformatting.

Therefore, most publishers get manuscripts approved and only then send them for printing. Did the publisher jump the gun on MoD approval and print Gen Naravane's book and send it to bookstores? Was there an oversight by the Mod, which then asked the publisher to recall the copies?

India Today Digital reached out to Penguin Random House India over phone calls and email, but the staffers refused to say anything about Gen Naravane's book.

A hard copy of the book with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi suggests that Penguin Randomhouse might not have waited for final approval from the MoD before sending the manuscript to the press. It also sent copies of Gen Naravane's for reviews and to bookstores.

"Rahul Gandhi, according to sources, sourced the book from the writer himself [or the publisher]. However, the book was not meant to be shown or given to anyone," Mausami Singh, political editor with the India Today Group said on the Netanagri show of The Lallantop, India Today Digital's sister outlet.

Questioned in the Lok Sabha by Rajnath Singh if the article he was reading from was from a published book, Rahul Gandhi brought it to Parliament the next day.

"According to sources in the Congress, Rahul Gandhi was put in a situation where he was not allowed to say what was written in the book, and that is why he had to bring the book to Parliament — that he had got from the author [or the publisher]," Singh said on The Lallantop show.

The big question isn't how Rahul Gandhi got a copy of the book, but how did a defence-related manuscript get converted into a book without the requisite approvals. Or was an approval granted initially, enabling the printing of the book?

The Delhi Police on Monday initiated an investigation by its Special Cell into the "purported leak or breach of a yet-to-be-approved" copy of Gen Naravane's memoir.

"The Delhi Police has taken cognisance of information circulating on social media platforms and online news forums claiming that a pre-print copy of a book titled Four Stars of Destiny is being circulated without mandatory clearance from competent authorities," it said.

Once content is out in this day and age, it is very difficult to restrict its circulation. The Delhi Police probe might reveal how a copy began circulating online. And the publisher and the government need to clarify how the sensitive "unpublished" book reached Parliament in the form of a hardcopy of the book. Was it a slip by a major publishing house or did the government approve it and then renege on that?