Ministry paper leak: Eight documents were classified

Eight documents seized from the accused people during the probe into the petroleum ministry papers leak case were "classified", the ministry told a court here on Wednesday.

A ministry official told Additional Sessions Judge Raj Kapoor that eight documents were of "classified" nature and not a single document recovered from the accused was in public domain.

Delhi Police told the court that investigation into the matter is likely to be concluded and a charge sheet filed in the case soon.

Police made the submission while giving to the court reports from the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.

The court on April 10 sought a response from the secretaries of petroleum and natural gas and home, specifying whether the documents allegedly recovered in the leak case were "classified".

The court direction came during the hearing of bail pleas of five corporate executives who sought to know from police why were they arrested without ascertaining whether the documents were "classified" or not.

The court was on Wednesday hearing bail applications of five corporate executives -- RIL corporate affairs manager Shailesh Saxena, Jubilant Energy senior executive Subash Chandra, Essar deputy general manager Vinay Kumar, Reliance ADAG deputy general manager Rishi Anand, and Cairns India general manager K.K. Naik.

Virender Kumar, employed as a casual worker in the defence ministry, has also sought bail.

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on April 20.

Former journalist Santanu Saikia, who runs a web portal and covered the crime beat in Delhi for several years, and Prayas Jain, a Melbourne-based energy consultant, were also booked by Delhi Police in the case.

The other accused are Lalta Prasad, 36, and Rakesh Kumar, 30 -- both brothers and residents of Delhi - Rajkumar Chaubey, 39, a resident of Ghaziabad, and government employees Asharam, 58, and Ishwar Singh, 56.

Delhi Police have registered two FIRs in connection with the leak of classified documents related to different ministries, including coal, petroleum and natural gas, and power -- the first on February 17 and the second on February 20.