Nambi Narayanan: A noble scientist dragged into disgrace

The Kerala police just conjured up a femme fatale from the Maldivian shores, implicated three innocent scientists of repute from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1994 and fabricated a stupefying story of their sharing official secrets concerning space technology and launch missions with foreign spies.

As if to make their tale more James Bondish, the probe into the alleged murky espionage was passed on to the CBI to unravel the international ramifications. The Kerala police personnel had in fact dreamt of painting the most respected Indian scientific fraternity in the darkest colours and proving their expertise in nabbing anti-national forces allegedly working incognito at ISRO. They not only committed a faux pas but also a national disservice.

After a thorough probe, a flummoxed CBI termed the espionage case as one founded on mere suspicion with such glaring lapses as lack of evidence. Yet the Kerala police persisted in their flawed prosecution. Even the Kerala government took no note of the motive-hunting of its inefficient and incorrigible police force.

To cap it all, the errant police personnel were also ‘just’ let off on the grounds of no strictures passed on them by the courts of law. Thanks to the timely humanitarian concern of the Supreme Court for individual rights, it had not only cleared the names of eminent scientists like Nambi Narayanan in the fabricated spy scandal but also awarded Narayanan Rs 50 lakh compensation not only for the loss of his fundamental right to dignity and self-respect but also for the excruciating humiliation and agony undergone by him.

Besides, it had ordered formation of a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to take action against those police personnel who fabricated the espionage case. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India also made the pertinent but deeply touching comment that a mere compensation does not serve complete justice.

The crafty Kerala police personnel had not only inflicted a catastrophic blow on the life, career and reputation of Narayanan but also rolled back the technological advancement in space research. However, endowed with stoical fortitude and indefatigable frame of mind, Narayanan battled his way successfully to legal justice. Though he was reinstated, he was asking the prosecuting authorities till the day of his retirement Why he was defamed globally for no fault of his.

’This is nothing but a fabricated case. They found out that I had sold a yet- to – be created cryogenic technology to an enemy nation. How is it possible to sell something when it was never there?’’ he said. Hailing the apex court’s verdict, he described the judgement as a watershed in the history of human rights litigation in the country and a benchmark for others who have been unjustly condemned. “Justice has been delivered though belatedly,’’ he exclaimed rather sadly.

More heartrending was the pathetic life of another ISRO scientist K Chandra Sekhar who could not survive a life besmirched and battered beyond endurance. He slipped into coma in a Bangalore hospital totally unaware of the apex court’s verdict exonerating him from the 1994 espionage case. Yet, his wife showed him TV grabs of the apex court’s judgement which he could not comprehend at all.

The scientist who acquainted himself well as India’s representative to Russian space agency Glavkosmos for over three decades was tortured in the custody of Kerala police, stripped most inhumanly in front of prosecutors, physically abused beyond all decency, harassed, humiliated and hounded out. Labelled as a traitor, he led a life of a recluse, away from the lib-lab world of space research and breathed his last on Sunday carrying the horrific memories of his prosecution into his grave. His funeral was attended by a few of his erstwhile colleagues and faithful friends.

Isn’t it high time that the Kerala police were prosecuted for their malicious handling of a case, barbaric torture of scientists of absolute character and integrity and wrongful arrests?