Image Courtesy:keralakaumudi.com
The Kerala High Court has granted anticipatory bail to all accused persons/petitioners- former Gujarat Director General of Police RB Sreekumar, two former Kerala Police officers S. Vijayan and Thampi S. Durga, and a retired IB official PS Jayaprakash in the ISRO spy case.
The CBI has been investigating an alleged conspiracy to implicate former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan in the 1994 espionage case. Back in 1994, allegations of transfer of certain confidential documents on India’s space programme to foreign countries by two scientists and four others, including two Maldivian women, surfaced in the media. Nambi Narayanan, the then director of the cryogenic project at ISRO, was arrested along with the then ISRO Deputy Director D Sasikumaran by the Kerala Police.
The former scientist, who was eventually given a clean chit by the CBI, had alleged that the Kerala police had “fabricated” the case and falsely accused him. Naryanan reportedly accused the former DGP, Gujarat, of torturing him and falsifying records to implicate him. The CBI had named him in its FIR and charged Sreekumar, along with several other officials
The Kerala High Court, through its August 13 order, has ruled that there is not even a “scintilla of evidence regarding the petitioners being influenced by any foreign power so as to induce them to hatch a conspiracy to falsely implicate the Scientists of the ISRO with the intention to stall the activities of the ISRO with regard to the development of Cryogenic Engine”.
Justice Ashok Menon observed that unless there are specific materials regarding their involvement, prima facie, it cannot be said that they were acting against the interest of the country. He said that the concerns of the Kerala Police at that stage cannot be said to be without any basis but ultimately it was found that “there is nothing in the accusation made against the offices and the investigation was dropped. The accused in the present crime should not be made to face a similar situation of being forced to undergo the ignominy of being incarcerated in the prison for interrogation at this old age after their retirement for an incident that took place a quarter of a century ago.”
The Bench further noted that there was no indication or material, apart from the rhetoric that a foreign power has a hand in persuading the petitioners. Therefore, it was ruled that the petitioners were entitled to the remedy of anticipatory bail. Justice Menon also said that the investigation was triggered by the apprehension of the Maldivian ladies who were overstaying their Visa.
The court also noted that during the investigation, the officers in the lower rank (such as some of the petitioners) found certain suspicious circumstances, as a result of which, they registered the crime and reported the matter to the higher authorities. Therefore, the Court accepted that the concerns of the petitioners/Kerala Police at that stage cannot be said to be “without any basis.”
The order may be read here:
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ISRO espionage case: Kerala HC grants protection from arrest to R.B Sreekumar
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