Nambi Narayanan receives Rs 50 lakh from Kerala government

Former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan was Tuesday given Rs 50 lakh by Kerala government in compliance with a recent Supreme Court order awarding the compensation to him for being falsely implicated in the 1994 espionage case. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan handed over a cheque for Rs 50 lakh to 76-year old Narayanan at a function organised at the state secretariat here, three weeks after the apex court ordered the relief holding that he was "arrested unnecessarily, harassed and subjected to mental cruelty."

Narayanan said he was very sure from the beginning itself that the case against him was false. 'I am happy that the government is with me," he said.

The apex court had on September 14 ordered a probe into the role of the Kerala police in the case and awarded Rs 50 lakh as compensation to Narayanan, directing the state government to pay it within eight weeks. Speaking at the function, Vijayan said the compensation the amount had to be paid by the officials responsible for lapses in the probe and government was exploring possibilities of recovering it from them.

State Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan, Industries Minister E P Jayarajan and Chief Secretary Tom Jose were among those present at the function. The espionage case, which hit the headlines in 1994, pertained to allegations of transfer of certain confidential documents on India's space programme to foreign countries by two scientists and four others, including two Maldivian women.

Narayanan had to spend close to two months in jail before the CBI concluded the allegations against him were false. The case was first investigated by the state police and later handed over to the CBI, which found the allegations to be false. The scientist had moved the Supreme Court against the Kerala High Court order which said no action was required to be taken against former DGP Siby Mathews and two retired superintendents of police K K Joshua and S Vijayan, who were later held responsible by the CBI for his illegal arrest.

(With inputs from agencies.)