Former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan has approached the Kerala High Court against the National Human Rights Commission’s (NHRC) decision to not legally move against the investigating officers in the ISRO espionage case for allegedly torturing him during the initial probe into the case.
Narayanan had filed a petition in the NHRC against former ADGP Siby Mathews and former SPs K K Joshwa and S Viajyan.
The Commission had closed this petition as the HC had observed that no further action needed to be taken by the government as the three officers had retired.
The HC also observed that no disciplinary proceedings could be taken against the trio as they are not under any government service at present.
However, Narayanan argued in the court that the NHRC cannot dismiss the petition on the grounds of HC's observation because the two issues were entirely different. He reportedly said in the petition that the action of the NHRC was illegal as the HC was then dealing with the Kerala government’s decision to take no action against the retired officials although the CBI had recommended action against them.
The 72-year-old petitioner said the HC verdict cannot be applicable to Human Rights violation.
According to a report in The Times of India, the scientist alleged in the petition that the NHRC should have proceeded to complete the final inquiry as per section 18 and its decision to close the proceedings was a mockery of justice and amounts to protecting the criminals.
The espionage case surfaced in 1994 when Nambi Narayanan was booked on charges of engaging in espionage at Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The CBI had given him clean chit in 1996.