Ex-ISRO scientist to get Rs 10-lakh relief

Former ISRO scientist Namby Narayanan, who was falsely framed in the infamous ISRO spy case of 1994, got a much delayed interim relief at the age of 71.

On Friday, a division bench of the Kerala High Court upheld the National Human Rights Commission's order of 2001 which had asked the Kerala government to pay Narayanan an interim relief of Rs 10 lakh. The division bench of justices C N Ramachandran Nair and Abdul Rahim asked the government to pay Rs 10 lakh within three weeks. The bench said the NHRC can continue the proceedings for the final hearing.

Narayanan had moved the NHRC after the Kerala government constituted a special police team to probe the spy case even after the CBI submitted the closure report in the special court in Kochi in 1996, saying that espionage charge was fabricated.

On Friday, the court observed that the government's decision to reopen the case was gross violation of human rights.

"I would continue to fight the case and see those who are responsible for spoiling my life are punished. No compensation can repair the damage my reputation had suffered. A broken reputation can never be repaired. That is a big loss, which cannot be quantified," said Narayanan.

In 1994, the Kerala police had arrested Narayanan and another ISRO scientist Sashikumar on charges of espionage. Their arrest came after two women from Maldives were illegally detained in Kerala by state police.

The issue had snowballed into a major political controversy which led to the exit of Congress chief minister K Karunakaran. His then rival A K Antony became the Chief Minister.

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