Centre thinks of 20-year ban on memoirs by retired senior officials.

The Centre is considering a 20-year cooling-off period before retired senior civil and military officials can publish memoirs, amid fresh political controversy.

on Feb 16, 2026

Centre thinks of 20-year ban on memoirs by retired senior officials.

According to officials that are conversant with the issue, the Union government is proposing that senior civil servants and military officers be allowed to wait 20 years to publish books or memoirs after their retirement.

It has been said that the proposal was mentioned at a recent Union cabinet meeting, where officials expressed concerns over retired officials in positions of high ranking, but giving away sensitive information by publishing accounts. Although the matter did not feature in the official agenda, the authorities said that the official order can be made in the nearest future.

The discussions are in the light of political controversy against the former Army Chief General (Retd.). The unpublished memoir of Manoj Mukund Naravane Four Stars of Destiny. Reportedly quoted in the book are some of the military developments over the India-China standoff in eastern Ladakh in August 2020, and the book has been quoted in Parliament over recent weeks.

This issue got out of proportion when the Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi tried to mention the unpublished memoir in the Lok Sabha, which evoked a government objection. Very shortly a PDF of the manuscript was circulated over the internet. Publisher Penguin Random House India later issued a statement that the document was unauthorised and threatened legal action and the Delhi Police filed an FIR over the leak.

According to general Naravane, the book has not been released officially. It has been reported that the book was delayed after a request on the part of the ministry of defence, though a pre-order link was distributed in December 2023.

Authorities also reported that the cabin meeting talked about the allegations against the Union Minister Hardeep Puri and the deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein. The position taken by the government was apparently accepted by the ministers, who pledged not to act any more in regard to the accusations. Puri has claimed that he had met Epstein just on business matters and subsequently had ceased communication after finding out about Epstein.