Delhi Police Issues Notice To Penguin Publications Over General Naravanes Unpublished Autobiography Controversy

Unpublished autobiography of former Army Chief General MM Naravane ‘Four Stars of Destiny’ Amidst the political controversy over the issue, Delhi Police on Wednesday (February 11) issued a notice to publisher Penguin Random House India. During this, the same question was repeatedly raised that how the unpublished book reached Rahul Gandhi.

According to officials, Delhi Police Special Cell has registered a case on charges of criminal conspiracy over the leaking of the book. Under this, answers to many questions related to the unpublished script have been sought from Penguin Random House India and the publisher has been asked to join the investigation. Two clarifications were also issued by the publisher within 24 hours of the FIR being registered.

In fact, in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi tried to cite alleged excerpts from this book of General Naravane while criticizing the government. The excerpts claimed that during tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China in 2020, when Chinese tanks advanced into Indian territory, the political leadership in Delhi showed hesitation in giving clear instructions and General Naravane was told, “Do whatever you feel is appropriate.”

As soon as Rahul Gandhi did this, BJP lodged a sharp protest. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that no unpublished book can be quoted in Parliament. After this, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, while giving the verdict, said that Rahul Gandhi cannot cite such material because it is unpublished literature and its authenticity is not certified.

Despite this, Rahul Gandhi showed a hardbound copy of the book in the Parliament premises and challenged the claims of the book’s non-existence. The Leader of Opposition said that he wants to gift this copy to the Prime Minister.

After this entire incident, the question deepened as to how this book reached Rahul Gandhi before its official release. Penguin Random House India issued a statement clarifying that the book has not yet been formally published and is awaiting approval from the Defense Ministry. The publisher also warned that any PDF or physical copy being circulated would constitute copyright infringement. General Naravane also took the same stand and said that his book has not been officially released yet.

However, Rahul Gandhi cited a 2023 tweet by General Naravane in which he had written, My book is now available, adding that the book was listed for pre-order on Amazon. Rahul Gandhi argued that either General Naravane or the publisher was not telling the truth and added that, “I choose to trust the Army Chief.”

Penguin then issued a second clarification, saying that the book was only available for pre-order and was not yet on sale.

Statement from the publisher. pic.twitter.com/pksacg3EeT

— Penguin India (@PenguinIndia) February 9, 2026

Meanwhile, Delhi Police has registered an FIR and started investigation on allegations of illegal dissemination of the manuscript through digital and other means. Saying that ‘Rahul Gandhi has been exposed by presenting a fictitious story before the country’, BJP has demanded a public apology from him.

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