The Maharashtra government is taking legal opinion on whether action can be taken against Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami under the Official Secrets Act over his purported WhatsApp chats concerning the Balakot air strike, a state minister said on Saturday. Addressing a press conference here, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh also sought to know from the Centre how Goswami got access to sensitive information regarding the strike. He was referring to the purported chats between Goswami and former Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) head Partho Dasgupta, which mentioned that Goswami was privy to the 2019 air strike, when the Indian Air Force (IAF) hit the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26 that year.
Leaking of official secret of military operations is treason and those involved must be punished, Congress leader A K Antony said on Wednesday referring to the purported WhatsApp chats of Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami doing the rounds of social media. Addressing a press conference here, he also said that the government should immediately order an inquiry into information leak about the 2019 air strikes. Leaking of official secret of military operations is a national security matter and is treason. Whoever is party to this leakage must be punished and those involved deserve no mercy, Antony said. On February 26, 2019, India had launched air strikes on what was said to be Jaish-e-Mohammed s training camp in Pakistan s Balakot.
Read more about Republic TV head Arnab Goswami violated Official Secrets Act: Congress on Business Standard. Maharashtra Congress expressed serious concerns over the recent leaks of social media chats of two media personalities