Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on 27 September said that his government had sanctioned Rs 50 lakh as compensation to former Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientist S Nambi Narayanan, who was arrested in an alleged spy scandal in 1994.
CM Vijayan also asked authorities to see if the money can be recovered from erring officials.
After a weekly cabinet meeting CM said, “The money will be given (to the ex-scientist) very soon. We have directed the Law Department to see if this money can be recovered from police officers who falsely implicated him in the ISRO case.”
This development came as a follow up to the apex court’s order in which it had directed the Kerala government to pay a sum of Rs 50 lakh as compensation to the appellant.
The Supreme Court ordered compensation for the sufferings and ignominy the scientist underwent after his arrest in ISRO spy case.
Former ISRO scientist was, reportedly, accused of selling vital Indian space technology secrets to Pakistan. The apex court had, however, cleared him of spy charges and termed his arrest as “needless” and “unnecessary”.
The ISRO spy case surfaced in the year 1994 when Narayanan was arrested on charges of espionage. The CBI cleared him in 1995 and since then he has been fighting a legal battle against Inspector General of Police Siby Mathews and then Deputy superintendents of police KK Joshua and S. Vijayan who probed the case.
