CBI Can Act Against Ex-Kerala Cops In ISRO Spy Case, Says Supreme Court

In 2018 the Supreme Court said the arrest of Dr Nambi Narayanan over the 1994 espionage case was needless, and it also granted him Rs 50 lakh compensation

The CBI must proceed against ex-Kerala Police officers who framed former ISRO aerospace scientist and Padma Bhushan awardee Dr Nambi Narayanan, the Supreme Court said on Monday, noting that the investigation must move forward since the agency had filed an FIR. The court, however, said the CBI must collect material without relying on the report of the Justice Jain committee - the three-member panel set up after it acquitted Dr Narayanan in 2018. "CBI can proceed after registration of FIR... as per law and no directions required from this court. The respondent can take all possible remedies available in law... further, after registration of FIR, CBI must collect material on its own and not proceed on basis of report submitted by Jain committee," a two-member bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna said. The bench said that the report could not, by itself, be basis to act against the accused.