The Kerala High Court on Monday dismissed a plea filed by former police officer S Vijayan wherein he accused former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist Nambi Narayanan of influencing senior officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by gifting them land in Tamil Nadu.
Vijayan is one of the 16 accused facing a CBI probe for falsely implicating Narayanan in the ISRO spy case of 1994. After the CBI filed a case against him following the judicial commission’s recommendation, he moved the court with a fresh plea in July this year seeking a probe into alleged land deals between Narayanan and CBI officials who investigated the case.
In his petition filed with land records of some properties in Tamil Nadu, Vijayan contended that Narayanan and his son owned large tracts of land and they later handed over them to CBI officials to weaken the case against him. He said materials with him were sufficient to book Narayanan and officials under the prevention of corruption act.
The single bench of Justice Narayana Pisharadi told him that mere encumbrance certificates were not enough and sale deeds and other records were required to prove his charges. Later the court quashed his plea with a suggestion that he can move the trial court after furnishing sufficient documents. Two months back the High Court granted bail to Vijayan and other officials facing the fresh trial. Reacting to the latest decision of the court Narayanan said, “the truth will always succeed”.
{{/usCountry}}The single bench of Justice Narayana Pisharadi told him that mere encumbrance certificates were not enough and sale deeds and other records were required to prove his charges. Later the court quashed his plea with a suggestion that he can move the trial court after furnishing sufficient documents. Two months back the High Court granted bail to Vijayan and other officials facing the fresh trial. Reacting to the latest decision of the court Narayanan said, “the truth will always succeed”.
{{/usCountry}}The ISRO spy case surfaced in 1994 after two women from the Maldives were arrested in the state capital on charges of overstaying in the country. Later, police arrested ISRO scientists Nambi Narayanan and Sasikumaran Nair after their numbers figured in their dairies. Heading the cryogenic division of the ISRO, Narayanan and Nair were charged with espionage and other sections. But in 1995, both were acquitted after the CBI inquiry and the case was dismissed. Though the state government filed an appeal in the apex court, it was also rejected in 1998.
Later, Narayanan fought a long legal battle and last year the Supreme Court ordered a compensation of ₹1.30 crore and appointed a one-man DJ Jain commission to inquire fake case against him. Following the commission report in June this year, the CBI filed a new case against many including former Kerala police chief Sibi Mathew, former deputy director of Intelligence Bureau RB Sreekumar and a host of former Kerala police and IB officials for falsely implicating him in the case.
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