Documents leak: Court seeks govt response

The directive came after the Crime Branch informed the court that they have sent reminders to the Petroleum Ministry.

A Delhi court on Friday sought replies from the Secretary, Ministries of Home Affairs and Petroleum and Natural Gas, in connection with the alleged leak of documents from the Petroleum Ministry, to ascertain the nature of the documents recovered by Delhi Police.

Additional Sessions Judge Raj Kapoor, while stating that the two ministries are “administrative in charge and in control of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) under their jurisdiction,” has sought the response in the form of a report from the secretaries of two ministries to ascertain whether the alleged documents leaked come under the purview of the Official Secrets Act.

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The directive comes after the Crime Branch of Delhi Police Friday informed the court that they have sent reminders to the Petroleum Ministry. However, they are unable to file a report-ascertaining the nature of the documents-as they have not received any response from the Ministry. Stating that this would be the “last opportunity” that would be given to file the report, the court asked the Joint Commissioner of Police to ensure that the directive is complied with.

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Hearing the submission made by the Investigation Officer (IO), the court said, “IO submits that no report has been filed by the MoPNG. He further submits that no report has been received. Since no report has been filed by the MoPNG, this court would like to have the response of Secretary, MoPNG and Home, being administrative in charge and in control of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) under his jurisdiction.”

The sessions court, which is hearing the bail pleas of six accused, had on Monday directed the police to submit a report from the Petroleum Ministry specifying whether the documents allegedly recovered in the case were classified.

Kaunain Sheriff M

Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies. With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health. His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award. Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time. Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More

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