Delhi HC asks IAF to take retired Air Force officer’s book into consideration for publishing

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Directorate of Intelligence to consider if a book written by a former Air Force officer could be published after a certain classified content is amended or deleted from it.

Justice Prathiba M. Singh, after hearing the retired Air Force officer’s plea seeking permission to publish the book, directed that a meeting between the petitioner and the pertinent officials take place within a month, and also sought a report on it.

The court, after listening to the matter at length, listed it for the next hearing on October 20.

According to the respondent authorities, the book’s content is detrimental to the IAF’s interests. Hence, publication clearance cannot be granted as, in accordance with the IAF’s regulations, classified material cannot be discussed and the book contains certain information that has not been “declassified”.

The court was told that the objectionable content included information about certain “counter-intelligence operations”.

The petitioner stated that he was ready to change or remove the objectionable content.

“Let the petitioner be heard by officials of the Indian Air Force and the Directorate of Intelligence in order to explore the possibility of whether the book can be published after the content is amended or deleted,” the court ordered.

The petitioner is a former group captain.

He told the court that he wished to write a book based on his experiences and, according to a reply to a query filed under the RTI Act, there are no guidelines in place in respect of a retired Air Force official writing fictional books.

(IANS)