The CBI submitted on Friday before the Kerala High Court that the 1994 espionage case involving former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan and others was part of a conspiracy hatched, possibly with involvement of a foreign hand, to derail the development of the cryogenic engine technology by India.
The submission was made by S.V Raju, Additional Solicitor General of India, appearing for the CBI while opposing the anticipatory bail pleas of former Gujarat DGP R.B. Sreekumar and other former police and IB officers in a case registered in connection with the conspiracy to frame up Mr. Narayanan in the espionage case.
He further submitted that foreign powers were involved in the conspiracy to fabricate a case against eminent scientists of ISRO. The cryogenic engine technology was denied to India because of the atomic bomb blast that took place in Pokhran. Russia, therefore, did not transfer the technology to India because of the sanctions in the wake of the blast. If the technology was handed over to us, we would have been faster in cryogenic engine development. It was managed by then scientists, including Nambi Narayanan.
Wrongful detention
He submitted that R.B. Sreekumar, then Deputy Director of the IB, Thiruvananthapuram, had played an active role in the wrongful detention of the victims. He submitted that the IB had no authority to interrogate Nambi Narayanan when he was in police custody. The interrogation was unauthorised, without the permission of the court. Mr. Narayanan and another former ISRO scientist Sasikumaran were pressurised and even tortured by the investigators to falsely implicate A.E. Muthunayagam, then director of LPSC, ISRO, who was dealing with cryogenic projects.
Although custody was given to the Kerala police, the investigation was virtually hijacked by the IB and they conducted the interrogation without the presence of Kerala police between November 4 and December 3, 1994. Then they prepared a false interrogation report in the espionage case involving ISRO scientists, he added.