Naval War Room Leak: The Trade of ‘Top Secrets’ in 2005

Here’s everything you need to know about the Naval War Room Leak of over 7000 pages of information marked Top Secret

The Naval War Room Leak, one of the biggest defence scandals of the country, came to light in May 2005. It involved the leak of over 7,000 pages of sensitive information including the Navy’s plans for the next 20 years to arms dealers and middlemen.

What Did Navy War Room Leak Involve?

Top officers of the Navy, in charge of the Directorate of Naval Operations, were caught and dismissed from service.

Several files marked “Top Secret” were leaked such as the details of the Navy’s fleet and submarines, details of “vulnerable areas” and “vulnerable points” in India’s air defence network, operation plans in disputed territories as well as the defence’s joint response in case of a Pakistani intrusion in Kutch sector.

The scandal was back in the news recently, when Vice Admiral Bimal Verma challenged the appointment of Vice Admiral Karambir Singh as the next Navy Chief, breaking the long tradition of seniority. Verma was in charge of the war room at the time and was issued a letter of “severe displeasure.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the Naval War Room Leak.

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The Key Players Behind the Leak

• Ravi Shankaran – former naval official, alleged to be the mastermind behind the leak
• Abhishek Verma – associated with the Atlas Group of Companies, which was interested in supply of communication equipment to the Ministry of Defence
• Kulbhushan Parashar – former naval official, who was introduced to Atlas by Verma and was made the Vice-President (Marketing) of Atlas Defence System
• Sambhaji Lal Surve – Wing Commander with the Air Force who possessed the leaked files in a pen drive.
• Commander Vinod Kumar Jha – the System Officer and Joint Director of Directorate of Naval Operations
• Commander Vijender Rana – the Joint Director of Directorate of Naval Operations
• Captain Kashyap Kumar – Director of Directorate of Naval Operations

How the Leak Was Discovered

Wing Commander Sambhaji Lal Surve was appointed as the Joint Director in the Directorate of Operations Air Defence in 2004. An year later, Surve was suspected of having an illicit affair and was placed under surveillance by the Air Force Intelligence.

During these investigations, a pen-drive was discovered in Surve’s house containing the classified Standard Operating Procedure for Pechora, a surface to air missile used in the IAF. Deleted files pertaining to the Directorate of Naval Operations were also found. Another pen drive with information of similar nature also surfaced, which Surve admittedly obtained from Lt (Retd) Kulbhushan Parashar.

The Central Bureau of Investigation’s charge sheet, filed in July 2006, stated that the leak of “Top Secret” files compromised national security, according to a report in the The Indian Express. It also said that “information for big multinationals engaged in defence supplies implies planning their business and networking strategies for the next 20 years, because this gives them a clear insight as to what the requirements of Indian Navy would be in this area, hence affording a market edge. The worth of this information, when translated into currency could run into billions of dollars.”

During further investigation, the role of Delhi-based businessman Abhishek Verma, stated to be closely associated with the Atlas Group of Companies, came to light. Parashar and Shankaran provided information to Atlas, which was interested in supply of communication equipment to the Ministry of Defence.

The Missing Link: Ravi Shankaran

The investigation was initially handled by the Naval headquarters but the CBI got involved in February 2006. According to Outlook Magazine, that did a series of articles in 2006 following the case, the delay in handing over the case to the CBI, allowed Shankaran to flee the country. The CBI had an Interpol Red Corner Notice issued against him and revoked his passport, but to no avail. The Outlook report also states that the “CBI believes Shankaran’s prolonged stay abroad may have helped him clean up his accounts and destroy any paper trail.”

Why action wasn’t initiated against Shankaran as soon as the Navy found out his involvement and how he was allowed to travel abroad despite being named a suspect, still remains a mystery in the case.

Shankaran is the nephew of the then naval chief Arun Prakash. However, as stated in a judgment by the Armed Forces Tribunal, “an affidavit was also filed by the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash who denied any kind of involvement or to show any leniency to protect his so-called relation.”

In 2010, Shankaran gave himself up in UK and in 2013, UK Home Secretary Theresa May issued the orders for his extradition to India. However, he filed a plea in the England and Wales High Court and in 2014, the Court judged in his favour. The Indian Express reports, that the court observed “fundamental doubts on the provenance of key evidence.” It also noted “that the pace of the trial in India was so slow, it had taken the other accused six years to secure bail.” Several technical problems were also pointed out in testimonies against Shankaran, as well as CBI’s failure to establish that it was Shankaran, who had sent out an email with details of BSF operations in Sir Creek, a disputed territory.

In 2015, The Times of India reported that the chase for Ravi Shankaran had officially come to an end as CBI would not challenge the 2014 order of the England and Wales High Court.

“We had secured his extradition and he was almost in our hands. But now there is no way Ravi Shankaran can ever be charged for the conspiracy,” a top official had told the daily.

Impact of the Leak

The case was investigated by Naval Intelligence and a Board of Inquiry was set up. Three officers of the Directorate of Naval Operations were implicated: Commander Vinod Kumar Jha, Commander Vijender Rana and Captain Kashyap Kumar.

An FIR was filed against Surve and the three officers under the Official Secrets Act. The FIR alleged that they had worked in collusion with Parashar, Shankaran, Wing Commander (Retd) SK Kohli, Mukesh Bajaj, Ms Raj Rani Jaiswal and other unknown persons of a communication company called Atlas.

It also stated that they had “conspired to unauthorized-ly trade off classified documents/information relating to the Ministry of Defence, the disclosure of which was likely to affect the sovereignty and integrity of India.”

The three were dismissed from service under Section 15 of the Navy Act, read with Article 311 of the Constitution, invoking the “pleasure of the President,” which allows action without holding a trial. Rana and Jha challenged the order in the Delhi High Court. The case was transferred to the Armed Forces Tribunal, which upheld the Board of Inquiry’s decision. The judgment stated, “we are satisfied on perusal of all the material that the authorities has rightly applied their mind on the basis of the material collected during the Board of Inquiry that it will cause a great damage to the security of the State as those material leaked from war room was of sensitive nature and disclosure of that would seriously compromise the security of the country.”

In 2017, the Supreme Court responding to Jha and Rana’s plea to overturn their dismissal, refused to interfere with the order passed by the Tribunal.

Surve was also found guilty by the Court of Inquiry set up by the Air Force. He was dismissed from service for misconduct, under Section 19 of the Air Force Act, which allows the central government to remove a person from service.

Since retired Naval officials and civilians are not subject to the Navy Act, a trial by Court Martial could not be held, even though the Naval Headquarters considered the seriousness of their offences liable. Accordingly, criminal proceedings were conducted against each individual.

A second charge sheet was filed in October 2006 against Verma for the offence of criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and under various provisions of the Official Secrets Act. According to The Economic Times, Verma “had received remittances to the tune of Rs 6.5 crore, ostensibly for paying bribes to defence personnel for obtaining information of various purchases to be made by the military.” The trial was held in a special CBI court in Delhi and Verma was sentenced to imprisonment under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act.

As stated in Delhi High Court judgment, Parashar was allegedly introduced to the Atlas Group of Companies by Verma and was then made the Vice-President (Marketing) of Atlas Defence System. As a representative of this firm, he had obtained inquiries from the Defence forces and remained in touch with the key accused, Ravi Shankaran. A trial was held and he was sentenced to imprisonment, under Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act.

Where Does the Case Stand Now?

The trial for the accused continues in the Tribunal. All accused are out on bail.

Jha was granted bail in October 2007 under the condition that he furnish a sum of Rs 15,000 and that he not attempt to contact any witness of the prosecution, much less try to influence them as well as surrender his passport.

Parashar and Rana were granted bail in May 2012 in the light of their six years in custody without any significant progress in the trial. The bail was allowed after submitting a sum of Rs 2 lakh each and on the condition that they surrender their passports, not leave the national capital region and that they do not create any hurdle in the extradition of Ravi Shankaran.

Since, the punishment under Section 409 of IPC, which caters to a criminal breach of trust by a public officer, could extend to life imprisonment, the three accused can be jailed again if found guilty.

A case against Captain Kashyap Kumar who is alleged to be falsely accused in the scandal, was closed by the CBI in 2017 as no evidence was filed against him in the charge sheet. He’s still fighting the case in the Tribunal against his dismissal from the Navy.