ISRO spy case: Kerala HC grants anticipatory bail to former Gujarat police chief Sreekumar, three others

By Express News Service

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to former Gujarat police chief R B Sreekumar and three others within the ISRO espionage case, observing that there was not even a “scintilla of evidence” in opposition to former Gujarat DGP RB Sreekumar and three different former cops.

Justice Ashok Menon stated there was no proof to recommend that they might be influenced by any international energy in order to induce them to hatch a conspiracy to falsely implicate the previous scientists of the ISRO with the intention to derail the event of the cryogenic engine. The CBI had alleged involvement of Pakistan in framing circumstances in opposition to former scientists.

The court docket made the commentary whereas granting anticipatory bail to Sreekumar, PS Jayaprakash, an ex-intelligence bureau officer and eleventh accused and two former cops – S Vijayan and Thampi S Durga Dutt, first and second accused within the case respectively for hatching a felony conspiracy to border former scientists within the espionage case. The petitioners argued that despite the fact that the CBI had registered the crime and began an investigation other than the offences talked about within the FIR, there is no such thing as a allegation in opposition to the accused of getting acted in opposition to the curiosity of the Country. 

The court docket noticed that except there have been particular supplies concerning their involvement, prima facie, it can’t be stated that they have been appearing in opposition to the curiosity of the Country. The investigation was triggered by the apprehension of the Maldivian girls, who have been overstaying the Visa and through the investigation, the officers within the decrease rank like accused first and second discovered sure suspicious circumstances, because of which, they registered the crime and reported the matter to the higher-ups. An officer of the rank of DGP of Kerala had constituted a particular investigating group consisting of investigating officers from the I.B. to help the Kerala Police to reach at a conclusion. 

The considerations of the Kerala Police at that stage can’t be stated to be with none foundation. But finally it was discovered that there was nothing within the accusation made in opposition to the places of work and the investigation was dropped. “The accused in the present crime should not be made to face a similar situation of being forced to undergo the ignominy of being incarcerated in the prison for interrogation at this old age after their retirement for an incident that took place a quarter of the century ago. There is no indication of material, apart from the rhetoric that a foreign power has a hand in persuading the petitioners. Hence, the petitioners are entitled to the remedy of anticipatory bail,” noticed the court docket.

CBI submitted that despite the fact that the offences are actually included within the FIR might not be so grave, however there’s a clear indication that the petitioners have been a part of a group, which had ulterior motives to torpedo the makes an attempt of ISRO for manufacturing the ingenuous cryogenic engine in India. 

The court docket held that within the occasion of the petitioners being arrested, they need to be launched on bail on the execution of a bond for Rs.1 lakh every, with two solvent sureties every for the like quantity. They ought to seem earlier than the Investigating Officer as and when referred to as and will cooperate with the probe. They shouldn’t depart the nation with out the permission of the jurisdictional court docket.