NE NEWS SERVICE
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG 11
The Kerala government on Tuesday handed over Rs 1.30 crore compensation to former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan, who was falsely implicated in the 1994 espionage case. The compensation has been given for settling the case filed by 78-year-old Narayanan against the government in a sub-court here seeking enhanced damages for his illegal arrest and harassment.
Sources in the Chief Minister’s office confirmed about the payment of the amount.
The government had earlier handed over Rs 50 lakh to Narayanan three weeks after the Supreme Court ordered the relief holding that he was “arrested unnecessarily, harassed and subjected to mental cruelty”, besides the Rs 10 lakh recommended by the National Human Rights Commission.
The espionage case, which hit headlines in 1994, pertained to allegations of transfer of certain confidential documents on India’s Space programme to foreign countries by two scientists and four others, including two Maldivian women.
The former scientist had to spend two months in prison before the CBI concluded that the allegations against him were false.
The case was first probed by state police and later handed over to the central agency which found the charges to be false.
Narayanan had moved the apex court challenging the Kerala high court order which said no action was required to be taken against former DGP – Siby Mathews and two retired Superintendents of Police – K K Joshua and S Vijayan, who were later held responsible by the CBI for his illegal arrest.
