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HC rejects plea claiming Nambi influenced CBI in Isro spy case probe
Attaching records of some properties in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, Vijayan alleged that Narayanan and his son owned large tracts of land which they later handed over to the CBI officials to weaken the case against him.
The Kerala high court on Monday dismissed a plea of a former police officer who accused former Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) scientist Nambi Narayanan of influencing a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)-led probe into the 1994 espionage case against him.
Former Kerala Police officer S Vijayan is among 17 accused facing a probe by the central agency for falsely implicating Narayanan in the spy case.
In his plea before the high court in July this year, the former police officer alleged that Narayanan had influenced the CBI probe by entering into land deals worth crores with the then investigating officials of the agency.
Attaching records of some properties in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, Vijayan alleged that Narayanan and his son owned large tracts of land which they later handed over to the CBI officials to weaken the case against him. He added that the materials he had were sufficient for the trial court to order a probe and book the former Isro scientist and CBI officials under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The single bench of justice Narayana Pisharadi, however, told the petitioner that mere encumbrance certificates were not enough, and sale deeds and other records were required to prove the charges.
The court subsequently quashed the plea with a suggestion that the former police officer move the trial court after furnishing sufficient documents.
Reacting to the developments, Narayanan said “truth will always succeed”.
Narayanan was wrongly accused of selling vital secrets associated with Indian space technology to Pakistan in 1994. Though he was later acquitted by a CBI court and the Supreme Court in 1998, he spent a total of 50 days in jail along with fellow scientist D Sasikumar and four others. In 2018, he was compensated ₹50 lakh by the Supreme Court for “unnecessary arrest, harassment and mental cruelty”.
Vijayan was not available for a comment on the high court’s decision.
Vijayan’s plea before the high court in July came after the CBI filed a conspiracy case against him and 16 others, for framing the former Isro scientist. All of them were booked under various offences, including criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and fabrication of evidence in connection with the arrest and detention of Narayanan in the espionage case. Besides Narayanan, two Maldivian women were also arrested and detained in the case. The two women were jailed for over three years before being released.
Two months ago, the former police officer along with six others were granted bail by the high court in the case.
