Justice Joseph recuses self from plea in ISRO case

CBI’s appeals challenging anticipatory bail to officers accused of a conspiracy to frame ISRO’s Nambi Narayanan to be referred to another Bench

Justice K.M. Joseph, heading a Supreme Court Bench, recused himself from hearing a series of appeals filed by the CBI challenging anticipatory bail granted to former police officers accused of being part of a conspiracy to frame ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan in an espionage case in 1994.

The appeals would now be referred to another Bench of the apex court.

The CBI had challenged the bail given by Kerala High Court to the accused, including former Kerala DGP Siby Mathews. Other accused in the case are namely P.S. Jayaprakash, Thampi S. Durga Dutt, Vijayan and R.B. Sreekumar. They had been either former intelligence or senior police officers.

The CBI had claimed the possibility of a “larger conspiracy involving foreign powers”, which had stalled the technology to develop the cryogenic engine by decades.

The CBI had challenged the bail granted to the accused persons at the very “threshold” of its investigation.

“The frame-up led to the arrest of scientists. The technology for the cryogenic engine was deliberately stalled for at least two decades... May be a larger conspiracy involving foreign powers... Grant of anticipatory bail at the threshold may harm the investigation,” Additional Solicitor-General S.V. Raju, for the CBI, had submitted at an earlier hearing.

The Kerala High Court, while granting anticipatory bail to Mr. Jayaprakash, Mr. Thampi, Mr. Vijayan and Mr. Sreekumar, had observed that there was “not even a scintilla of evidence” to suggest that the former police officers and intelligence officials were influenced by any foreign power so as to induce them to hatch a conspiracy to falsely implicate the scientists with the intention to stall the activities of the ISRO regarding the development of cryogenic engine.