Former Army General Naravane confirms Penguin’s claim that memoir is as yet unpublished as Delhi Police file FIR

No copies of the book, either in print or digital form, have been published, distributed, sold, or otherwise made available to the public by Penguin Random House India,” the publishing house said; Gen. Naravane’s clarification follows remarks by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who cited a December 2023 social media post by the former Army Chief to counter the publisher’s claim
Updated - February 11, 2026 02:37 am IST - NEW DELHI

Saurabh TrivediSaurabh Trivedi
Add The Hindu as a Trusted Source

Former Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Mukund Naravane. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

Amidst a growing parliamentary storm over his book, Four Stars of Destiny, former Army Chief Gen. M. M. Naravane on Tuesday (February 10, 2026) confirmed his publisher’s contention that the memoir has not been officially published.

Penguin Random House India said it holds the sole publishing rights to Four Stars of Destiny and asserted that the book has not gone into publication. “No copies of the book, either in print or digital form, have been published, distributed, sold, or otherwise made available to the public by Penguin Random House India,” the publisher said.

Sharing the statement by PRHI on social media, Gen. Naravane said, “This is the status of the book”. The statements came after the Delhi Police registered an FIR over the alleged illegal circulation of the unpublished manuscript in digital and other formats.