Relief for cops who framed scientist

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed a single-bench order directing the state government to take action against three police officers, now retired, who had falsely implicated and arrested ISRO official S. Nambi Narayanan in a nonexistent espionage case. The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice A.M. Shefeeq passed the order on an appeal filed by Siby Mathews, who headed the special investigation team that probed the case, and the then deputy superintendent of police K K Joshua.

Nambinarayanan, who had approached the court for action against three officers for allegedly subjecting him to physical and mental torture, said he would challenge the division bench order in the Supreme Court.

He said he was arrested and tortured without any reason. “The division bench verdict is unexpected. I see this as a temporary setback only. I am not worried about it. I am confident that ultimately the truth will triumph,” the scientist said in the state capital. The court dismissed his allegation saying there was no evidence to back it. The bench noted that none of the courts that considered the case had recommended action against the officials. The recommendation was made by only the CBI. The government can either accept or reject it, the court said. The bench observed that it was impractical to take action against the officials in connection with an incident that took place more than 20-years-ago. The case surfaced following the arrest of Maldivian woman Mariam Rasheeda in late 1994 on the charge of overstaying in the country. After interrogation, the local police described her as a spy and framed a full-fledged spy case by arresting Nambinarayanan, another top ISRO scientist and some others related with the Indian space agency.