Supreme Court quashes Kerala High Court order granting bail to 4 in ISRO spy case

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 2

The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday quashed the Kerala High Court’s order granting anticipatory bail to former Kerala DGP Siby Mathews and three others accused of framing ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan in a spy case.

A Bench, led by Justice MR Shah, asked the high court to decide their pleas afresh in four weeks. However, it said the accused shall not be arrested for four weeks and until their anticipatory bail pleas were decided afresh by the high court, provide they cooperate in the probe.

On August 13, 2021, the HC granted anticipatory bail to four accused — former Gujarat DGP, two former police officers of Kerala and a retired intelligence official — in connection with the case. They were RB Sreekumar (former Gujarat DGP), Vijayan, Thampi S Durga Dutt, and PS Jayaprakash.

The CBI has registered a case against 18 persons for various alleged offences, including criminal conspiracy, in connection with the arrest and detention of Narayanan in the espionage case. The HC had set aside the 60-day limit imposed on the pre-arrest bail given to Mathews by sessions court.

The SC had, on November 22, 2021, issued notice on CBI’s plea challenging the anticipatory bail granted to the police officials in the 1994 ISRO espionage case in which noted scientist Narayanan was allegedly framed by the accused.

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