New Delhi:  Documents linked to the Rafale deal have been stolen and petitioners are violating the Official Secrets Act by relying on classified documents, the Government told the Supreme Court this morning as the Court’s notice was drawn to a newspaper report.

“These documents were stolen from the Defence Ministry either by former or present employees. These are secret documents and can’t be in the public domain,” the Attorney General K.K. Venugopal told the Court, representing the Central Government.

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi questioned what action the Government had taken. “We are investigating how these documents were stolen,” said the Centre.

“It is a criminal offence. We are objecting at the outset because secret documents can’t be annexed with the petition. Review and perjury petitions must be dismissed,” said the Attorney General. Hearing this, Chief Justice Gogoi refused to accept any fresh affidavit by advocate Prashant Bhushan. The SC said it won’t look into any supplementary affidavits or other documents not filed before it.

The Centre said the documents relied upon by him and others were stolen from the Ministry by present or former employees.

The Attorney General was scheduled to inform the Court the progress made in the probe at 2 pm today.