Accused in Petroleum Ministry document leak coming out of Patiala House Court in New Delhi.
The Delhi Police on Wednesday told a court here that eight documents recovered from five corporate executives, who were accused of leaking documents from Petroleum ministry, were “classified.”
Sources told The Indian Express that the eight documents were related to exploration division of Petroleum ministry and that it is still “unclear as to who out of the five corporate executives” accessed these documents.
The submissions were made by crime branch before Additional Sessions Judge Raj Kapoor, who is presently hearing the bail plea of five corporate executives — Shailesh Saxena of Reliance Industries Ltd, Vinay Kumar of Essar, Subhash Chandra from Jubilant Energy, Reliance ADAG DGM Rishi Anand and Cairns India’s K K Naik.
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Assistant Commissioner of Police K P S Malhotra told the court that none of the documents recovered in the present case are in “public domain”. The submissions were by Delhi Police on Wednesday after the court on April 10, while giving a “last chance,” had sought replies from the Secretary, Ministries of Home Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas, to ascertain the nature of the documents recovered by Delhi Police.
After the police made their submission, the defence counsel asked the prosecution to mention which documents stated to be “classified” belonged to which accused.
The court then observed, “I will not enter into their discretionary matters related to the investigation. They have the authority. You will know the details once the chargesheet is filed.”
After hearing the detailed submissions made by both defence and prosecution, the court said, “Investigation officer submits that investigation is likely to be completed and the challan (chargesheet) would follow accordingly. In the view of this, the matter is now adjourned to April 20.”
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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Accused in Petroleum Ministry document leak coming out of Patiala House Court in New Delhi.
