Action Taken in Naval War-Room Leak Case

A case under section 120B of the IPC read with sections 3(1) (c) and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 has been registered on 20.3.2006 against certain dismissed officers of the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force including Lt. (Retd.) Ravi Shankaran in the "Naval War Room Leak" case and presently trial is pending. The accused Lt. (Retd.) Ravi Shankaran is absconding and is outside the country and evading the process of law. His passport has been revoked by Ministry of External Affairs and a red corner notice has also been issued against him on 12.5.2006. An extradition request was sent to the United Kingdom on 14.6.2007 and Head of NCB, International Criminal Police Organisation, London on 19.2.2008.

The Naval War Room leak in 2005 was the only such case in the past 10 years. In order to avoid such situations stringent IT security measures have been put in place in the Directorate of Naval Operations (including the Naval War-room). In addition, the Indian Navy has an elaborate Counter-Intelligence set up to provide cover to all ships/units/establishments.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Nandi Yellaiah in Rajya Sabha today.

samir/MMB