The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee's resignation for "misleading the nation" over the leak of classified information from the Indian Navy's war room.
BJP said that Mukherjee, who had told the Parliament that the secret information stolen from the war room was commercial in nature, had misled the Parliament and the nation.
"He has forfeited his right to occupy the office he holds and we demand that he should resign," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said in a statement.
The CBI has arrested five persons so far, including three dismissed naval officials, while four more, including a relative of the Navy chief, have been charged for the leak of information from the war room of the Directorate of Naval Operations.
Claiming that the war room leak and the Scorpene submarine deal were linked, Javadekar accused Mukherjee of covering up the scam.
The BJP questioned why all the civilians involved in the war room leak had not been arrested.
Javadekar also asked why the government had not ordered a probe into an alleged payment of Rs 2.25 billion by a Zurich-based trust to an alleged middleman involved in the Scorpene deal.
"The Navy's affidavit has also affirmed that certain 'foreigners' are involved in the war room leak. Why has the government not named these foreigners and why was no action initiated against them?" he asked.
{{/usCountry}}"The Navy's affidavit has also affirmed that certain 'foreigners' are involved in the war room leak. Why has the government not named these foreigners and why was no action initiated against them?" he asked.
{{/usCountry}}"BJP believes that the truth in this case is more serious than imagined and the complicity of the government and its diversionary tactics are badly exposed."