New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday indicated that it may increase the compensation to former senior scientist of ISRO, S Nambi Narayanan, who was falsely implicated in an espionage case by the Intelligence Bureau and Kerala Police.
While posting the matter for further hearing on Wednesday, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud said Narayanan can continue pursuing his case seeking Rs 1 crore in damages. Narayanan has been paid a compensation of around Rs 11 lakh.
The court also indicated that it may ask the Kerala government to hold a fresh probe into the matter as senior counsel V Giri said the Central Bureau of Investigation, which probed the matter, had found the charges against Narayanan malicious.
Narayanan – who studied in the Princeton University and worked with National Aeronautics and Space Administration – came to India to work with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), refusing the offer of US citizenship, said his lawyer C Unikrishnan.
Narayanan told the court that his dream was that India becomes a space power. Unikrishnan said Narayanan was working on a cryogenic engine when he was arrested November 30, 1994, in a fabricated case and jailed for 50 days.
Narayanan said he was seeking a fresh probe as he wanted to know the motive behind the case which caused a 15-year delay in the development of cryogenic engine, resulting in a loss of billions of dollars to India. – IANS