New Delhi: The Delhi Police has formally opened an investigation into the circulation of a PDF copy of former Army Chief, General M.M. Naravane’s unreleased memoir, Four Stars of Destiny. According to the police, the soft copy appeared to be a typeset version prepared by Penguin Random House India, the book’s publisher, the Hindustan Times reported.“Delhi Police took cognisance of information found on various online social media platforms and news forums which claimed that a pre-print copy of the book Four Stars of Destiny is being circulated,” the newspaper quoted a police spokesperson as saying. “In order to carry out a thorough investigation into this purported leak/breach of a yet to be approved publication, a case has been registered with the Special Cell and investigation is being taken up,” the spokesperson informed. The police spokesperson and media reports have not mentioned the sections of law this case would attract.The memoir has been in the spotlight this month, after an essay in the Caravan magazine provided details of the political and military decision making during the 2020 border crisis in eastern Ladakh, based on its contents. When Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi tried to quote a part about the political directions to the army chief from the unreleased book, via the magazine, the Treasury Benches and the Lok Sabha Speaker stopped him.The PDF version of the book has since been shared over WhatsApp and other online messaging platforms, especially among retired and serving military personnel. In response to these developments, Penguin Random House India (PRH) released a statement on Monday (February 10) asserting its copyright over the unpublished book. It would appear that the book is “unpublished” in the sense that a full print run of a specified number of copies was not sent to a printer by PRH and delivered back to it. Nor was it distributed to book stores for sale.Instead, as India Today reported on its website, pre-print copies of the Naravane manuscript appear to be circulating. Most likely, LoP Gandhi secured one of these copies and brought its contents to attention in parliament earlier this month. Neither PRH nor Gandhi have commented on pre-print copies so far.Pre-print copies are a regular practice in all kinds of publishing, whether books or magazines, which allow for limited copies to be circulated, such as to the author and publishing house, often for review or publicity. What is also usual practice is for a publishing house to prepare proofs – a PDF document shared with the author and printer that finalises every detail of a manuscript prior to printing. PRH’s statement does not mention the proofs either.The statement only asserts that the Naravane book has not “gone into publication” and that “no copies” of it have been placed into circulation by PRH. That explains why the main message of the statement is about copyright ownership. It also clarifies that if any copies are in circulation, in print or PDF, it is not because of PRH.However, with the book now in the public domain, even if unofficially, there have been many reports on its contents, whose veracity has not been questioned by author or publisher. The Wire earlier reported on General Naravane’s revelations about China’s road construction in Bhutan to put pressure on India in 2020, threatening the Siliguri Corridor and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s response.“We carefully review all our books to ensure quality content and this process may impact publishing timelines based on the necessary work involved. As part of this editorial process, we are scheduled to publish General M.M. Naravane’s book in 2024 and we are working towards meeting that timeline,” Milee Ashwarya, publisher, Penguin Random House India, had told The Wire in an email in January 2024.The publisher has now issued a statement distancing itself from the leak but not the contents of the typescript. In a statement, Penguin clarified that the book has not gone into publication or been made available to the public. However, the statement is silent on the organisations and individuals who were provided a copy of the book in 2023, whether for providing blurbs or for publicity and media coverage.General Naravane enjoyed writing the bookAt the Kasauli literature festival in Himachal Pradesh in October 2025, General Naravane was asked about the status of the book. “My job was to write the book and give it to the publishers,” he replied. “It is for the publishers to get permission from the MoD [Ministry of Defence]. They have given it to them, and it is still under review.” By then, as per him, the book had been under review “for more than a year now”.“So it’s not for me, it’s beyond; not for me to actually follow up,” General Naravane added, “The ball is in the publisher’s and the MoD’s court. But I enjoyed writing the book, for better or for worse, and that’s that… It is for the MoD to give permission as and when they deem fit,” he told the audience, confirming that the contents of the book were authored by him. Earlier, in January 2024, when asked about the final release date for the book, General Naravane had told The Wire that we should “check with publishers”.The book was to be initially published in April 2024, as per pre-order and publicity announcements made in late 2023 by the publisher, Penguin Random House India. It was available for pre-order on Amazon India and Flipkart, which refunded the payments for the order after a few weeks. Till earlier this week, their listings said: “Currently unavailable. We don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock.”The book’s listings on the e-seller sites had noted that it contains 448 pages. “From his first encounter with the Chinese as a young officer in Sikkim to dealing with them in Galwan when he was Chief, from daily incidents of firing across the LC to implementing a ceasefire with Pakistan, General Naravane takes us through his distinguished career spanning over four decades that saw him serve in all corners of the country,” part of the description stated.The book’s ISBN or International Standard Book Number is 9780670099757. The ISBN is a 13-digit numeric identifier that uniquely distinguishes books and are assigned by designated national ISBN agencies. Every book with an ISBN-13 is indexed in global databases like Books in Print, WorldCat and Google Books. Once assigned, an ISBN is permanently tied to that book format and edition.Blurbs by Raja Mohan, Nitin Gokhale and General VP MalikBefore these hurdles from the government emerged, Four Stars of Destiny was poised to be the definitive military account of contemporary India from a top general. The book features glowing advance praise from defence journalist Nitin Gokhale, strategic expert C. Raja Mohan, former Army Chief General V.P. Malik, academic Anit Mukherjee and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. As per practice, the blurbs are seen as endorsements provided after the manuscript of the book has been finalised and provided to the blurb writers.“His detailed and candid narration of the India–China confrontation in Eastern Ladakh before and after the Galwan Valley incident (Operation Snow Leopard) is very informative and exciting,” wrote General Malik. Raja Mohan noted that “Gen Naravane’s riveting discussion of the 2020 Galwan Crisis and the recent defence reforms offers valuable insights for all those interested in India’s defence and national security policies.” Gokhale said that “Gen Naravane dwells at length on his tenure at the very top (2020–22), spent mainly in dealing with the border crisis in Ladakh and Covid,” while Tharoor called it “a must-read for readers of all generations!” A screenshot of the typeset of memoir, mentioning advance praise for the book.Pending with defence ministry for approval News reports based on the extracts from the memoir were published by the Press Trust of India in December 2023 and were available online. To date, neither the author nor the government has denied the veracity of these extracts.According to the Hindustan Times, the defence ministry then wrote to General Naravane and the publisher to submit the book for clearance before publishing it. The army recorded its observations on the subjects covered in it, the newspaper reported, and had sent it to the defence ministry to take the final decision. The defence ministry has so far not given a decision on the request for approval. An RTI-based investigation by the Indian Express revealed that General Naravane’s book is the only manuscript still pending approval with the Ministry of Defence among 35 books submitted between 2020 and 2024.The government’s refusal to discuss its contents has kept Four Stars of Destiny at the centre of a prolonged public spotlight and political contestation. What remains uncontested, however, is that even though the book was never officially sold, none of its contents have been denied by the author or publisher. While the physical copies are absent from bookstores, the “truth” of the army chief’s revelations remains unchallenged. For now, Four Stars of Destiny remains a ghost – widely read in the shadows, but officially non-existent.