Curtains down on 26-year-old Isro Spy Case, Scientist Nambi Narayanan gets additional compensation from State Govt

On Tuesday, the Govt of Kerala handed over an additional compensation of Rs 1.30 crore to former scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Nambi Narayanan to settle the two-and-half-decade-old spy case in which he was implicated by the state Police.

A case was filed by Narayanan (79) in the Sessions Court in Thiruvananthapuram after the Apex Court in 2018 ordered that his arrest in the case was “unnecessary & he was implicated” & granted him an interim relief of Rs 50 lakh. The Court had also observed that Narayanan deserved more & he could approach a lower court for proper compensation. Earlier, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had also ordered a relief Rs 10 lakh to him.

After the Apex Court’s order, the Kerala Govt had asked Ex-Chief Secretary K Jayakumar to look into the matter & fix an exact compensation amount & arrive at a settlement. Later, his suggestions were submitted before the Court & a settlement was clinched. “I am happy. It is not for money alone I fought. My fight was against injustice,” Narayanan said after accepting the cheque.

The Isro spy case relates to allegations of transfer of certain confidential documents & secrets of the County’s cryogenic engine technology to enemy countries by 2 scientists & four others, including two Maldivian women.

The case had generated enough heat. Many books were written over the sensational case & a Bollywood director had even made a biopic on Narayanan who had to pay a heavy price along with Ex-CM K Karunakaran. Its release was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Narayanan was conferred the Padma Bhushan last year.

The case surfaced in 1994 & Karunakaran was forced to quit after a section of his party led by A K Antony & Oommen Chandy revolted against him after the then police chief’s name (Ramon Srivastav) also cropped up in the case. It was alleged that two senior scientists of Isro - Nambi Narayanan & D Sasikumaran - had sold space secrets for money & sexual favours. 2 Maldivian women were also arrested in connection with the case. Srivastav was then Inspector General of Police.

However, in 1998, the Top Court had quashed the case after accepting the CBI inquiry report that it was cooked up. When the espionage case was unearthed, Narayanan was in-charge of the cryogenic division. He was the first to introduce liquid fuel rocket technology. The country’s space technology had to suffer badly due to the espionage case, he said in one of the interviews pointing to a larger conspiracy in the case.

“Hated by all I thought of committing suicide on several occasions. But I never wanted to die as a traitor. I lived all these years only to tell this,” Naryanana had told the news agency in one of the earlier interviews. 

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