Kerala HC grants anticipatory bail to ex- DGP,three others

The Kerala High Court on Friday allowed the anticipatory bail applications moved by retired Gujarat DGP R B Sreekumar, and three others in the ISRO conspiracy case. Others whose anticipatory bail applications were allowed include two former Kerala Police officers S. Vijayan and Thampi S. Durga, and a retired IB official PS Jayaprakash in the ISRO espionage case. The case relates to the hatching of a conspiracy to frame former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan in 1994. RB Sreekumar was on deputation to the Intelligence Bureau at the time of the incident. A Single Bench of Justice Ashok Menon pronounced the orders. The espionage case, which had hit the headlines in 1994, 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.

The case had caught attention in October 1994, when Maldivian national Rasheeda was arrested in Thiruvananthapuram for allegedly obtaining secret drawings of ISRO rocket engines to sell to Pakistan. Narayanan, the then director of the cryogenic project at ISRO, was arrested along with the then ISRO Deputy Director D Sasikumaran, and Fousiya Hasan, a Maldivian friend of Rasheeda. The 79-year-old former scientist was later given a clean chit by the CBI after a thorough investigation. He then approached seeking legal action against the Intelligence and Kerala Police officers who had a hand in implicating him in the espionage case. However, this was dismissed on the ground that no action was required to be taken against them.

He  moved the Apex Court against the High Court's order. It accepted Narayanan's plea that the authorities, who were responsible for causing such a 'harrowing effect' on his mind, should face 'legal consequences'. The Apex Court also directed the state to cough up a compensation worth  Rs 50 lakhs to Narayanan. The Court also appointed an inquiry commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice DK Jain on September 14, 2018 to probe the angle of a larger conspiracy in fabricating the espionage case against the former scientist. After inquiry the Jain panel submitted its report in a sealed cover to the Apex ourt earlier this year. After that the SC ordered a CBI probe and at  this juncture the CBI charged 18 former police and Intelligence Bureau officials with several allegations of implicating Narayanan and subjecting him to custodial torture.