(This story was first published on 10 March 2019, then updated on 14 March, and is now being republished in light of the Supreme Court’s imminent order on 10 April on whether or not to admit certain ‘confidential’ documents as evidence when conducting the review in the Rafale case.)
Attorney General KK Venugopal kicked up a storm on Wednesday by telling the Supreme Court that the government was considering criminal action against journalists and the petitioners against the judgement of 18 December 2018 for revealing top secret information about the controversial Rafale deal.
According to the attorney general, these documents, revealed by N Ram and other journalists and submitted to the Supreme Court with the Rafale review petitions, were “stolen” from the Defence Ministry, and disclosing them was a threat to national security.
He said the government was investigating how the documents were leaked, and that those who’d published them as well as those who’d submitted them to the court were guilty of offences under the Official Secrets Act 1923. He also demanded to know the source behind the leak of the documents.
These statements immediately caused consternation in the courtroom, and were the subject of outrage on social media and among journalists for the underlying threat they posed to the free press. The Editors Guild of India issued a statement on Thursday, 7 March, in which they condemned the A-G’s comments as “threats” and urged the government “to refrain from initiating any action that might undermine the media’s freedom and independence.”