Thiruvananthapuram: After a legal battle of more than two decades in a sham espionage case, former ISRO scientist, Nambi Narayanan, who was cleared of all charges, on Friday said that he is happy with the Supreme Court verdict, but wants the judicial committee enquiry to be over at the earliest.
He believes that the SC order will work as a deterrent for those in power who think that they can get away with anything.
Speaking to CNN-News18 after the verdict, Nambi Narayanan said, “I am happy, I have been given almost what I asked for. I want to know the time frame for the enquiry, the terms of reference and the members in the committee.
“People in power think they can do anything and get away with it. I think that feeling is shaken because of this SC order. The problem is many of our people do not fight back; they simply accept it and move on. I fought this case for so long. There was a defamation case against me for four and a half years. I went to every hearing during this time. I had to undergo a lot to continue this legal battle,” said the scientist.
Nambi Narayanan was a scientist with the ISRO and was in charge of the cryogenics division.
He was charged with espionage and arrested in 1994 on charges of selling documents related to cryogenic technology.
In 1996, the charges were dismissed by the CBI. In 1998, the SC found him not guilty. The CBI later found the case to be false and suggested legal action against the officers of Kerala police — namely former DGP Siby Mathews, officers KK Joshwa, and Vijayan.
This case had created a political turmoil in the state and the then chief minister K Karunakaran had to resign.
According to Nambi Narayanan, he had to undergo custodial torture. The fight had been hard for him with being labelled a spy while working as a scientist in ISRO. In his autobiography ‘Orbit of Memories’, he has written in detail about the physical torture in custody.
Nambi Narayanan said that he hopes that the enquiry will be over in a period of six months.
“You should fix the people who did the crime. We can't tell them after 20 years we will come and ask what you have done. Some people who may be involved in the crime have already kicked the bucket. Someone has fabricated the case; it must come out who fabricated it and what was their real motive,” Narayanan said
He had earlier alleged that that players outside the country were behind this ISRO spy case.
Nambi Narayanan said, “There should be enquiry into the case. If my suspicion is right these people have done a very big crime. This is something that is concerning national security.”
He added that if the ISRO espionage case had not happened, India would have got cryogenic technology much earlier.
Comments
0 comment