Penguin Random House India (PRHI) on Monday said it is the sole publisher of former Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane’s memoir, Four Stars of Destiny, and confirmed that the book has not yet been made public.
The publisher issued the clarification following reports that unauthorised copies of the book were being shared. The matter has also drawn the attention of the police, with the Delhi Police registering an FIR over the alleged illegal circulation of the material in digital and other forms.
In an official statement, PRHI said it holds exclusive publishing rights to the memoir, stressing that no version of the book, whether printed or digital, has been released or distributed to the public so far.
The publishing house added that any copies currently in circulation are unauthorised and do not represent an official release.
"Penguin Random House India would like to clarify that we hold the sole publishing rights for the book 'Four Stars of Destiny', a memoir by General Manoj Mukund Naravane, former Chief of the Indian Army. We wish to make it clear that the book has not gone into publication," the publisher said in a statement.
"Any copies of the book currently in circulation, in whole or in part, whether in print, digital, PDF, or any other format, online or offline, on any platform, constitutes an infringement of PRHI's copyright and must immediately be ceased," it added.
Row erupts in Lok Sabha over Naravane’s book
Notably, senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi was also seen carrying a copy of the book to the Parliament. Lok Sabha has been witnessing disruptions since February 3 after Rahul was disallowed by the chair from quoting from an article based on excerpts of Naravane's 'unpublished memoir' in which he has referred to the India-China conflict of 2020.
