NEW DELHI: Making his first comment on Indian Navy’s Scorpene submarine data leak by The Australian newspaper, Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Monday said that it is being viewed “very seriously”, but is “not a matter of much worry”.
“Any leak of information is viewed very seriously. We have viewed the leak of the Scorpene data very seriously and we have asked DCNS to launch an urgent investigation into this,” the Navy Chief told reporters on the sidelines of an event at South Block in the national capital.
He noted that the Defence Ministry has set up a high-level committee to investigate the matter to assess the damage due to the leak. “Based on the report of the committee, we will see what mitigation measures need to be taken,” he said.
Asked how serious a concern the leak was, the Navy Chief said, “This is not a matter of much worry. The committee is analysing and they will see what data has been compromised and what mitigation steps have to be taken.” The high-level committee headed by a senior vice admiral rank officer is expected to submit a detailed report to the Defence Minister by September 20.
An Australian Court on Monday granted temporary injunction against further publication of leaked Scorpene submarine data by The Australian newspaper on an application moved by French defence firm DCNS that has been rocked by the document leak scandal. The Australian, which had said that it will publish the documents regarding the weapons system of the submarine on Monday, has not done so.