Politics had set back space agency’s progress
Monday's Kerala High Court order quashing the 2011 decision of the State's Congress-led UDF Government to exonerate the police officials who had seriously erred in the investigation of the so-called Indian Space Research Organisation spy case, has generated the hope that justice will finally be delivered to the victims of the allegedly fabricated case. The order of the court, which directed the Government to review its decision, came on a petition filed by former Isro scientist Nambi Narayanan, whom the police had trapped in the case as an accused by slapping cooked-up charges on him. The judge did not find any reason to be soft in his criticism of the Government which had been trying to protect the wrong-doers who were instrumental in delaying India's cryogenic engine development project by at least 14 years, by embroiling the space agency in a scandal of sleaze and spies and persecuting two scientists by charging them with leaking out papers and plans connected to Indian rocket technology — a crime they never even imagined of committing. It all started with the arrest of Mariam Rasheeda, a Maldivian woman, on October 20, 1994, on the charge of overstaying in India after the expiry of her visa. Within a month, this simple case transformed itself into a huge espionage scandal with the entry of three police officials — a DIG, an SP and a circle inspector — and some Intelligence Bureau sleuths, one of whom is now carrying out a campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The police had probed the ‘case’ only for a brief period, but the damage they did to the reputation of Indian space science will not be repaired in several years. The Central Bureau of Investigation probed the case later and concluded in 1996 that it was false and unproven, leading to its closure and acquittal of the accused. In a report to the Government, the probe agency recommended appropriate disciplinary action against the officials who were involved in the frame-up.
No Government that ruled the State since then thought it necessary to act on the CBI recommendation, but when pressure increased due to political reasons, the present UDF Government decided in 2011 that there would be no action against the erring police officials. This strengthened the rumours that the entire spy case was perhaps a political plot, which could have started in New Delhi as it had also resulted in the resignation of then Chief Minister K Karunakaran in 1995. That it could have been a political plot, however, was not a consolation for Mr Narayanan. So he continued his battle for justice, seeking punishment to those who tortured him and trampled his life, career and dreams. The path to that justice has now been opened. But it is not yet time to feel fully relieved. It is yet to be seen whether the Government of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will continue its efforts to ensure protection to the tainted officials or be ready to see the writing on the wall and act accordingly.