SC Sets Aside Pre-Arrest Bail Granted To 4 Officials Accused of Framing ISRO Scientist Nambi Narayanan

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday set aside Kerala High Court 2021 orders granting anticipatory bail to four former police and intelligence bureau officials in a case of the alleged frame-up of scientist Nambi Narayanan in the 1994 ISRO espionage matter. A Bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar remitted the bail pleas back to the Kerala High Court and asked it to decide the same as early as possible, at any rate “within a period of four weeks,” news agency PTI reported.

The top court was hearing the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) appeal against the high court order granting bail to former Gujarat DGP R B Sreekumar, two former police officers of Kerala — S Vijayan and Thampi S Durga Dutt, and a retired intelligence official P S Jayaprakash. The court had reserved the judgement on the two petitions filed by CBI on November 28.

Meanwhile, the apex court granted interim protection from arrest to the accused for a period of five weeks, subject to their cooperation with the investigation, till the High Court finally decides the matter. “All the anticipatory bail applications are remitted to the High Court to decide the same afresh in accordance with law and in the light of the observations made hereinabove. However, it is observed that this Court has not observed anything on the merits of the case of the either of the parties and it is ultimately for the High Court to pass appropriate order,” the SC order said.

“We request the High Court to finally decide and dispose of the anticipatory bail applications at the earliest, but preferably within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of these orders,” it added. The apex court had in November last year issued notice on the CBI’s plea filed in the matter. The agency had said its probe found that some scientists were tortured and framed in the espionage case due to which the development of cryogenic engine was hit, setting back India’s space programme by almost one or two decades.

The CBI earlier alleged there was a clear indication that the accused were part of a team which had ulterior motives to torpedo the attempts of the ISRO for manufacturing the cryogenic engine.