Former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan (Photo credit: PTI)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court took a stand on the probe into ISRO espionage conspiracy case, urging the CBI to continue its investigation against ex-Kerala Police officers, who framed former ISRO aerospace scientist and Padma Bhushan awardee Dr Nambi Narayanan.
The Court said that since the agency had already filed an FIR against the former officers, it should gather material without heeding the report of the Justice Jain committee - the three-member panel set up after it acquitted Dr Narayanan in 2018.
The two-member bench consisting of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna observed that the investigation agency did not need a court direction to proceed with a case after filing an FIR. It also wanted the CBI not to take the Jain committee report as the basis of its investigation.
The court also heard the accused contenting the CBI's refusal to share the report with them for a better defence of their claim. The SC also underlined in its instructions that the CBI would act independently to collect evidence and other materials.
Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the central agency, pointed out that an earlier order of the court (on April 15) prohibited the publication of the Jain committee report. Mehta added that the FIR anyway, contained the gist of the report and would be uploaded soon.