SC panel report on 1994 ISRO espionage case & Nambi Narayanan's harassment submitted

Almost three decades after the former director of the cryogenic project at ISRO, Scientist S. Nambi Narayanan, was arrested for his alleged involvement in the controversial ISRO espionage case of 1994, a panel appointed by the Supreme Court to probe the matter in 2018, has submitted its report recently. 79-year-old Narayanan was arrested in 1994 with other ISRO staff after Maldivian national Mariam Rasheeda was arrested in Thiruvananthapuram for allegedly obtaining secret sketches of the ISRO rocket engines, to sell them to Pakistan.

CBI in 1996 had said 'No evidence to back charges against Narayanan'

The SC had set up the panel after repeatedly observing that Narayanan had faced "tremendous harassment" at the hands of the authorities, while the CBI which took over the case in 1996 also had observed that "the ISRO espionage case accusing Narayanan of wrongdoing is false, and there is no evidence to back the charges," the CBI had stated in 1996, 2018 and has now reiterated the facts in the apex court.
 
Three years after (1995) Narayanan was released on bail, he had approached the National Human Rights Commission seeking compensation from the Kerala government, for the mental agony that he had suffered in the process. Congress was heading the government in Kerala when Narayanan was arrested. An SIT team was constituted to probe the matter after which Narayanan was arrested.

CBI found top SIT officials responsible for Narayanan's illegal arrest

After the case was transferred to CBI, the premier investigating body discovered that then top police officials in the SIT team in Kerala were responsible for Narayanan's illegal arrest, PTI reported. In 2018, the SC appointed a three-member panel headed by former judge D K Jain, while the Kerala government was directed to give Narayanan a compensation of Rs 50 lakh, as he underwent "immense humiliation."

An SC bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra, in 2018, had observed "We are of the view that the appellant was arrested and he has suffered custody for almost 50 days. His arrest has been seriously criticised in the closure report of the CBI. From the aforesaid report, the harassment and mental torture faced by the appellant is obvious."

SC observed actions against Narayanan to be a "psycho-pathological treatment"

For almost two and a half years, the panel studied the developments that led to the arrest of Narayanan and scrapped the allegations against the senior ISRO scientist. Meanwhile, ISRO Deputy Director D Sasikumaran and Fousiya Hasan, a Maldivian friend of Rasheeda were also arrested with Narayanan. However, the SC time and again observed the actions initiated against the ISRO scientist to be a "psycho-pathological treatment".
 
Moreover, the panel also noted that the officials responsible for causing such a "harrowing effect' on Narayanan's mind, must face "legal consequences" while the court reiterated "the Kerala government must compensate the ISRO scientist." More details over the report submitted by the panel are yet to be ascertained.