Thiruvananthapuram: Former scientist Nambi Narayanan has responded to the recent CBI charge sheet declaring the ISRO espionage case as fabricated, expressing his belief that the truth would eventually surface. 

Earlier today, the charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the 1994 espionage case came out. It revealed that Narayanan was named as an accused on the instructions of Commissioner R Rajeev and RB Sreekumar.

Former IB Assistant Director Vinod Kumar's statement confirmed that there is no evidence of espionage in the case, as it says in the charge sheet. 

Speaking to the media, Narayanan clarified that he has no association with Mariam Rasheeda, who is also an accused in the case. 

Reflecting on the prolonged legal battle spanning 24 years, Narayanan emphasised that justice has prevailed following the 2018 verdict. He expressed disinterest in revisiting the details of the charge sheet, noting the strain on his custody and the ordeal endured during the case.

According to the CBI's charge sheet filed in the Thiruvananthapuram Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court, the ISRO espionage case was allegedly fabricated. S. Vijayan, a former circle inspector of the special branch, first met Maryam Rasheeda during a raid on a hotel. The case was allegedly filed in retaliation after Maryam Rasheeda protested when Vijayan groped her.

The Case

In October 1994, Kerala police registered two cases after Maldivian national Rasheeda was arrested in Thiruvananthapuram for allegedly obtaining secret drawings of ISRO rocket engines to sell to Pakistan. Narayanan, the then director of the cryogenic project at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was arrested along with the then ISRO deputy director D. Sasikumaran and Fousiya Hasan, a Maldivian friend of Rasheeda.

The CBI probe found the allegations to be false. In September 2018, the Supreme Court termed the police action against Narayanan as "psychopathological treatment," stating that his "liberty and dignity," basic to his human rights, were jeopardised as he was taken into custody and, despite all the glory of the past, was eventually compelled to face "cynical abhorrence."