Court asks newspaper to hand over Scorpene papers to DCNS

An Australian court on Thursday confirmed its preliminary decision made earlier this week asking The Australian newspaper to provide all leaked data of India's Scorpene submarine programme to French shipbuilder DCNS and to stop publishing any more details.

The paper, which has already withdrawn information published on its website after the first decision on Monday, will provide DCNS with all the documents in its possession and is prohibited from publishing any additional documents (See: DCNS gets court order against publishing further Scorpene leaks). "The Supreme Court of the State of New South Wales (Australia) confirmed today the preliminary decision it had rendered on Monday, August 29, against The Australian," DCNS said in a statement.

Underlining that confidentiality of information and communication is a matter of utmost importance, DCNS said it welcomes this decision of the court.

In parallel to this action, DCNS filed a complaint against unknown persons for breach of trust, receiving the proceeds of an offence and aiding and abetting before the Paris Public Prosecutor, it added.

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 the French company, have been leaked.