An Indian space scientist accused of spying finds closure after 24 years
AN UNUSUAL STORY
Oct 1994: Maldivian national Mariam Rasheeda arrested in Thiruvananthapuram for allegedly obtaining secret drawings of ISRO rocket engines to sell to Pakistan.
Nov 1994: Nambi Narayanan, director of the cryogenic project at ISRO, arrested along with deputy director of ISRO D. Sasikumaran and Indian representative of a Russian space agency K. Chandrasekhar. S.K. Sharma, a labor contractor, and Fousiya Hasan, Maldivian friend of Rasheeda are also arrested.
THE CASE
Defense officials said the secrets pertained to highly confidential “flight test data” from experiments with rocket and satellite launches.
Nambi Narayanan was among two scientists (the other being D Sasikumaran) that were accused of selling ISRO secrets for millions. However, his house seemed nothing out of the ordinary and did not show signs of the corrupt gains he was accused of.
Narayanan was arrested and was lodged in jail for 50 days.
THE DIFFICULT TIMES
According to him, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and state police officials who were interrogating him in connection with the case, wanted him to make false accusations against the top brass of ISRO.
But when he refused to comply, he was tortured by the officials until he collapsed and was admitted to hospital. In his statement, Narayanan had later said that his main complaint was against ISRO because it did not support him.
WHO IS NAMBI NARAYANAN?
In the early 1970s, Narayanan had introduced the liquid fuel rocket technology.
He said that the liquid-fuelled engines will be required to execute ISRO’s civilian space programmes in the future. He invited praise from then ISRO chairman Satish Dhawan and his successor UR Rao for this invention.
CONTRIBUTIONS
- Narayanan along with his team, with French assistance, developed the Vikas engine.
- The Vikas engine is used by the ISRO to launch its rockets including the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) that took Chandrayaan-1 to the moon in 2008.
- The Vikas engine is also used as the second and the four strap-on stages of Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
FALSE CASE
Apr 1996:
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) files report before a Kerala court, says espionage case is false and there was no evidence to back the charges.
May:
Court accepts the CBI’s report and discharges all accused.
May 1998:
Supreme Court awards compensation of 1 lakh to Mr. Narayanan and others, who were discharged in the case; directs the state government to pay the amount.
Apr 1999:
Mr. Narayanan approaches the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) claiming compensation from the state for the mental agony and torture suffered by him.
SUPREME COURT
Apr 2017:
The Supreme Court begins hearing on Mr. Narayanan’s plea, seeking action against former Kerala DGP Siby Mathews and others who had probed the matter.
May 3, 2018:
A three-judge bench comprising of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud says it is considering awarding Mr. Narayanan a compensation of 75 lakh and restoring his reputation.
EVENTS
November 1994
Kerala police arrest Narayanan.
December 1994
Kerala government transfers case to the CBI.
May 1996
A Kerala court accepts the CBI’s report absolving the accused and recommending action against investigating officers.
June 1996
Kerala government takes the case back from the CBI and Kerala police move to reopen the investigation against Narayanan and the other accused.
November 1996
Kerala high court upholds the state government’s decision to reopen the investigation.
April 1998
The supreme court quashes the state government’s decision to reopen the investigation.
May 1998
The supreme court orders the state government to pay Narayanan Rs1 lakh as compensation.
March 2001
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) orders the state government to pay Narayanan Rs10 lakh as compensation.
June 2011
Kerala government decides not to pursue disciplinary action against the investigating officers. The government has not paid the compensation ordered by NHRC.
September 2012
The high court orders the state government to pay the compensation of Rs10 lakh which had been pending.
October 2014
The high court directs the state government to reconsider disciplinary action against the investigating officers.
March 2015
The high court approves of the state government’s decision to not pursue disciplinary action against the investigating officers.
September 2018
The supreme court orders the state government to pay Narayanan Rs50 lakh as compensation and sets up a committee to decide disciplinary action against the investigating officers.
WHEN HE WAS ASKED WHO DID THIS
In 1992, India had signed an agreement with Russia for transfer of technology to develop cryogenic-based fuels
The agreement was signed for Rs 235 crore when the US and France were offering the same technology for Rs 950 crore and Rs 650 crore respectively.
Documents show that US president George H. W. Bush wrote to Russia, raising objections against this agreement and even threatening to blacklist the country from the select-five club. Russia, under Boris Yeltsin, succumbed to the pressure and denied cryogenic technology to India.
To bypass this monopoly, India signed a new agreement with Russia to fabricate four cryogenic engines after floating a global tender without a formal transfer of technology.
ISRO had already reached a consensus with Kerala Hitech Industries Limited (Keltch) which would have provided the cheapest tender for fabricating engines. But this did not happen as the spy scandal surfaced in late 1994
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