By IANS
New Delhi : A city court Friday asked former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) official, Maj. Gen. (Retd) V.K. Singh, to explain his reluctance to face in-camera proceedings in his trial on charges of leaking official secrets in a book published last year.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Padam Kant Saxena deferred the hearing for Jan 14 and asked Singh’s counsel to provide details or reasons for refusing in-camera proceedings.
Counsel for Singh, Anup Khullar, claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was keen on an in-camera trial because of “sensitive” reports appearing in various newspapers.
Khullar earlier claimed that his client was a whistle blower who tried to expose corruption in the agency. Singh had revealed the working of the RAW and also questioned the leadership and accountability of the agency in his book ‘India’s External Intelligence – Secrets of RAW’.
Khullar alleged that the CBI booked him under the Official Secrets Act for writing a book that is available in the market and is not banned.
The investigating agency Sep 19 last year registered a case against Singh for allegedly violating section 5 (wrongful communication of information) of the Official Secrets Act.
The CBI raided Singh’s house in September last year after the government filed a complaint with the probe agency. Singh was a former joint secretary in RAW.