Former ISRO Scientist Who Was Falsely Accused Of Spying Finally Gets Rs 50 Lakh As Compensation

Nambi Narayanan, the former top ISRO scientist, who fought a legal battle for 24 years, to restore his reputation after he was falsely accused of spying, has finally received the compensation awarded by the Supreme Court.

Kerala chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, presented a cheque of Rs 50 lakh to the former head of ISRO's cryogenic division, at a special function in the state secretariat Tuesday.

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Thanking the government for standing with him, Narayanan said, “Over the last 24 years, six Chief Ministers, K. Karunakaran, AK Antony, EK Nayanar, V. S. Achuthanandan and Oommen Chandy, have assumed office. But ever since Pinarayi Vijayan became the Chief Minister, his total understanding of the case was different”.

CM Vijayan said the government will explore legal options on whether the Rs 50 lakh can be made accountable from the three investigating officials.

The world of Dr Narayanan, one of the top ISRO scientists at the time who worked with the like of APJ Abdul Kalam turned upside down in 1994, when he was arrested on charges of leaking sensitive information to Pakistan.

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The case was first investigated by the state police and later handed over to the CBI, which found the allegations to be false and cleared Narayana of all charges.

Since then, he has been fighting a lengthy legal battle to restore his honour. Last month, the Supreme Court had ordered the state government of giving him a compensation of Rs 50 lakhs.

Calling his arrest by Kerala Police in the case in 1994 needless and unnecessary, the SC on Thursday also constituted a committee headed by retired SC judge D K Jain to inquire into the role of investigating officials.