Govt denies sr official had leaked army chief’s letter

The government on Sunday rubbished reports that an Intelligence Bureau inquiry had indicted a joint secretary-level officer at the Cabinet Secretariat for leaking army chief General VK Singh’s letter to the PM. HT reports. Officer in cabinet secretariat leaked Army chief's letter

The government on Sunday rubbished reports that an Intelligence Bureau (IB) inquiry had indicted a joint secretary-level officer at the Cabinet Secretariat for leaking army chief General VK Singh’s letter to the prime minister on the poor state of preparedness of the force.

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A news agency report had identified a woman officer of the Indian Economic Service as the source of the letter that was leaked, presumably to embarrass the UPA government, and said she had been transferred out.

Neelam Kapoor, principal director general of the Press Information Bureau, said the report that the officer has been held responsible for the leak is “absolutely incorrect”.

Kapoor’s remark was followed by a written statement that the report “was completely baseless”.

The government had ordered an IB probe into the leak after the army chief, who was speculated by some MPs to have a role in the letter finding its way to the media, said that whoever leaked it had committed “high treason”.

Home Minister P Chidambaram had recently refused to divulge the status and outcome of the IB inquiry.

Officer in cabinet secretariat leaked Army chief's letter