The CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front government in Kerala has decided to compensate 1.3 crore rupees to ex-ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan, who was falsely implicated in espionage case. The said amount is in addition to 50 lakh rupees compensation given following the order of Supreme Court for “unnecessary arrest, harassment and mental cruelty”, in 2018.
This compensation is sort of an atonement by the Kerala government, which arrested Narayanan in 1994, on the charges of, supplying secrets of Indian space program to Pakistan. This turned the clock back for India’s space programme significantly.
Later it was revealed that the whole case was a fabrication by the top state police officials, done on the behest of Kerala’s political establishment. In January this year, PM Modi said, “A few years ago, a hardworking and patriotic ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan was implicated in a false case just because a few UDF (United Democratic Front) leaders wanted to settle political scores.”
For the last two a half-decade, Kerala has been ruled by the CPM led LDF and Congress-led UDF governments, and both parties used Narayanan to settle political scores, however, more may be happening behind the scenes.
The case started in 1994, when the Kerala police arrested Narayanan, on the charges of supplying secret information to Pakistan through Maldivian operatives. Later it was revealed that the whole spy story was fabricated by the A K Antony faction of Kerala Congress (with the help of senior police officials), who was trying to settle political scores with Kannoth Karunakaran, the then Congress chief minister of Kerala.
Antony succeeded is forcing Karunakaran, with the help of espionage case. Antony was made chief minister of the state, but the Congress party lost the next assembly election, and CPM led LDF government came to power.
In the meantime, CBI submitted the closure report in a special court in Kochi, in which Narayanan was given clean chit. However, the newly-elected LDF government withdrew the consent given to CBI to probe the case and decided to ‘reinvestigate’ the whole matter, and the case was again given to politicized Kerala police.
In January 1996, the CBI moved Supreme Court against state government’s decision to reinvestigate the case, and the apex court quashed the Kerala government’s order for reinvestigation in 1998.
The National Human Rights Commission ordered 10 lakh rupees as compensation, but the Kerala government got a stay on NHRC order. Finally, the apex court ordered the government to compensate 50 lakh rupees to Narayanan, and the Modi government recognized his contributions by awarding Padma Bhushan in 2019.
The case of Nambi Narayanan is best example of how politicians like AK Antony-a blue-eyed boy of Congress party, defence minister( 26 October 2006 – 26 May 2014) could destroy a career of a brilliant scientist.