What is the ISRO espionage case that dates back to 1994? How has the case proceeded in court? We explain.
The Supreme Court Friday quashed the Kerala High Court order granting anticipatory bail to four people, including a former Director General of Police (DGP), in a case of the alleged frame-up of scientist Nambi Narayanan in the 1994 ISRO espionage matter.
A bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar remanded the matter back to the high court and directed it to decide the issue within four weeks.
"All these appeals allowed. Impugned orders granting anticipatory bail passed by HC are quashed and set aside. All matters are remitted back to the HC to be decided afresh on its own merits. This court had not observed anything on merits for either of the parties.
While the top court directed the registry of the high court to notify bail applications before the bench concerned within one week from Friday, we look back at the case and its legal developments:
The case dates back to 1994 when several Indian investigations agencies alleged espionage against employees of the Indian Scientific Research Organisation (ISRO) with the Kerala Police and intelligence agencies arresting employees of ISRO on charges of attempting to sell confidential documents containing indigenous rocket engine designs developed by the Organisation.
The case pertained to 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.
Later, in April 1996, the Central Bureau of Investigation had declared that the case was made up and the victim scientist, Nambi Narayanan, accused the US and the CIA to fabricate the details of the case thereby preventing India from entering into multi-billion dollar commercial space missions.
The ISRO employees, who had been subject to arrest, pursued redress in courts, with Nambi Narayanan being awarded over Rs 1 crore in total as compensation.
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In November 1994, Nambi Narayanan, director of cryogenic project at ISRO, was arrested along with deputy director of ISRO D Sasikumaran and the Indian representative of a Russian space agency K Chandrasekhar. S K Sharma, a labour contractor, and Fousiya Hasan, Maldivian friend of Rasheeda are also arrested.
In January 1995, the ISRO scientists and businessmen were released on bail; the Maldivian nationals continue to be in custody.
In May 1996, the Supreme Court accepts the CBI's report that the case was made up and discharged all accused.
Later the Kerala government decided to conduct a re-investigation of the case by the State police and it was upheld by the Kerala HC. However, later it was quashed by the Supreme Court.
In May 1998, the Supreme Court awarded compensation of Rs one lakh to Narayanan and others, who were discharged in the case; directing the state government to pay the amount.
Later, in 1999, Narayanan approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) claiming compensation from the state for the mental agony and torture suffered by him. Following this, the NHRC awarded him an interim compensation of Rs 10 lakh and asked the state to pay damages, which was challenged by the government.
In September 2012, the Kerala HC directed the state to pay Rs 10 lakh to Narayanan. And in 2015, the HC left it to the state government to consider or not the CBI's report for taking disciplinary action against the erring police officers.
In April 2017, the top court began hearing on Narayanan’s plea, seeking action against former Kerala DGP Siby Mathews and others who had probed the matter.
On May 8, the same year, the SC said that it was considering asking the Kerala government to reinvestigate the role of SIT officers in the case and noted that Narayanan faced a dent in his reputation due to "malafide prosecution" and Kerala government cannot evade "vicarious liability" to grant him compensation.
In July, later that year, the CBI informed the SC that it was ready for a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the allegations by Narayanan.
The SC had on September 14, 2018 appointed a three-member panel headed by its former judge D.K. Jain while directing the Kerala government to cough up Rs 50 lakh as compensation for compelling Narayanan to undergo “immense humiliation”.
The Bench submitted its investigation report in a sealed cover to the apex court in 2021.
Meanwhile, while granting anticipatory bail to the four accused last year, on August 13, the Kerala High Court had said, “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 the cryogenic engine.”
However, later, the Supreme Court said that the High Court had “committed certain wrong”.
According to a report by LiveLaw, the apex court observed that the HC “has not dealt with Justice Jain committee report, individual allegations not examined. High Court should deal with individual cases individually.”
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Last year in November, the CBI told the Supreme Court that there may be a "larger conspiracy" involving foreign hands in the espionage case due to which the technology to develop the cryogenic engine was "hit" and the country's space programme went back by at least one or two decades.
"We (CBI) are proceeding on the line that the technology for the cryogenic engine was deliberately tried to be stalled by arresting the scientists, who were involved in the development of the engine, as a result of which our space programme went back by at least one or two decades," a CBI official told the bench.
He said this is a “very serious matter” and there may be a larger conspiracy at the behest of foreign hands which is being investigated.
"It is ultimately for the HC to pass orders. We request the HC to decide the anticipatory bail applications at the earliest preferably within four weeks from date of this order," the bench said on Friday.
"Till then by way of an interim arrangement, and without prejudice to rights, it is directed that for a period of five weeks and till the bail applications are finally decided by HC on remand, the respondents may not be arrested subject to cooperation in the investigation," the apex court said.
The judgement came on the CBI's appeal against the high court order granting bail to former Gujarat DGP R B Sreekumar, two former police officers of Kerala S Vijayan and Thampi S Durga Dutt, and a retired intelligence official P S Jayaprakash.
(with PTI inputs)