India's Budget Leaked in 1950: How a Security Breach Changed Printing Forever
Latest
N
News18•01-02-2026, 10:16
India's Budget Leaked in 1950: How a Security Breach Changed Printing Forever
- •India's 1950 budget, under Finance Minister John Mathai and PM Jawaharlal Nehru, leaked before its presentation on February 28.
- •Sensitive tax proposals and information became public during printing at Rashtrapati Bhavan, highlighting weak security.
- •The leak led to immediate government action, shifting budget printing from Rashtrapati Bhavan to a more secure press on Minto Road, and later to the North Block basement.
- •This incident, the first major budget leak of independent India, resulted in John Mathai's resignation and fundamentally changed budget confidentiality protocols.
- •Today, strict lock-in procedures, including the Halwa Ceremony and isolation of staff, ensure budget secrecy until presentation, a direct consequence of the 1950 leak.
Why It Matters: The 1950 budget leak forced India to overhaul its printing security, leading to today's stringent confidentiality measures.
✦
More like this
Loading more articles...
