High level committee inquiring into Scorpene leak in India, says naval chief

Naval Chief Sunil Lanba on Saturday revealed that a high level committee has been set up which is inquiring into the Scorpene Leak on the Indian side, adding that preliminary investigations shows that the leak did not happen in India, but in the DCNS office in France.

Speaking at the launch of India's latest warship, Mormugao, Admiral Lanba said, "There is a high level committee which is inquiring into the Scorpene Leak on our side. Similarly in France, DCNS and the French Government have launched an enquiry. Based on this inquiry, we will see what needs to be done and whether any mitigation measures are required or not."

"In preliminary investigation, it has been found that leak did not happen in India, but in the DCNS office in France," he added.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar had earlier played down the Scorpene leak, saying it's "not a big worry".

However, Admiral Lanba termed the Scorpene data leak as 'a matter of serious concern'.

"We have asked DCNS to launch an urgent investigation," he had said.

Over 22,000 pages of top secret data on the capabilities of six highly advanced submarines being built for the Indian Navy in Mumbai in collaboration with French company DCNS have been leaked.

The secret data included details of the capabilities of SM39 anti-ship missile expected to be used on the Scorpene and classified information about the number of targets the missile was capable of processing.