Why did Monika Arora keep quiet about “stolen property” till now?

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The authors of upcoming book Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story, met Delhi Police Commissioner on Wednesday and handed over complaint against Prof Nandini Sundar, the book’s former publisher Bloomsbury and prominent writers and journalists. The authors alleged cheating, breach of trust and invoked multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code. The authors, led by Advocate Monica Arora, met the commissioner in his office at the Police Headquarters and handed over their letter of complaint.

Most of those named in the complaint have countered it with facts. This is the statement by Prof: Nandini Sundar, shared over social media:

“ I have just seen a copy of the absurd complaint filed with the Delhi Police Commissioner by Advocate Monica Arora, co-author of the book, ‘Delhi Riots 2020’, in which she says, ‘I even received a legal notice from Ms. Nandini Sundar questioning the Foreward and one chapter of the book. How in the world would they have got their hands on the book if not for this unauthorized circulation. As on date, there is no other physical copy in existence except for those 100 copies that had been delivered to me. Thus, despite knowing such a version was “stolen property” neither the aforesaid media houses nor Ms. Sundar chose to take any appropriate legal measures to bring it to the notice of authorities.’

There have been tweets and news reports about the contents of the book since August 22, when the chief guest of the launch function himself tweeted: “The book is public now”. Monika Arora, who was best situated to judge whether these reports were based on “stolen property” has chosen to keep quiet about it till now.

If Arora or Bloomsbury have not complained about any “stolen property’, what business is it of mine “to take any appropriate legal measures to bring it to the notice of authorities”?

A few days ago, one of the book’s co-authors was on NDTV discussing the contents and expressing her inability to have fact-checked the foreword. She said nothing about “stolen property” at the time, nor did she or the other co-authors immediately file a complaint about the “theft” with the police.

Significantly, Ms Arora does not deny that the “stolen” book contains inaccurate statements about myself that infringe the law. Yet, as a restrained measure, I just brought it to their notice. This reaction is laughable.”