ISRO Conspiracy: Kerala High Court to consider anticipatory bail pleas of four accused again after Supreme Court order

The Kerala High Court will hear today the anticipatory bail plea filed by former police/ Intelligence Bureau officers RB Sreekumar, PS Jayaprakash, Thampi S Durga Dutt and Vijayan, who are accused of conspiring to frame former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist Nambi Narayanan in an espionage case in 1994 [PS Jayaprakash v Central Bureau of Investigation]..This is the second time that the anticipatory bail pleas are coming up for hearing before the Kerala High Court.Even though the High Court had granted them anticipatory bail in 2021, the Supreme Court last week set aside that order and sent the pleas back to the High Court to decide the matter afresh.The top court said that it appeared that the High Court had not considered the individual role played by each accused, as also the nature of the allegations.Further, the apex court had said that the delay in filing of the criminal complaint should not have been a factor since the same was belatedly done only after the top court had ordered so in 2021.However, it granted the four accused protection from arrest for a period of 5 weeks..When the matter came up before Justice Viju Abraham today, the judge noted that the Supreme Court had set aside and directed the High Court to consider a Criminal Miscellaneous plea moved by some of the petitioners as well. Therefore, he said that the anticipatory bail pleas need to be placed before the Chief Justice so that he can decide which judge has the jurisdiction to consider all pleas together.If the Chief Justice assigns it back to him, Justice Abraham said he would convene a special sitting on coming Saturday to consider the pleas in detail.Another former Intelligence Bureau officer, one VK Maini, has also approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail in the same case. The Court extended the interim protection from arrest that it had previously granted to him, until the matter is disposed of..In September 2018, the Supreme Court had held that the prosecution initiated by the Kerala police against Narayanan in the mid 1990s in the ISRO espionage case was malicious and ordered a compensation of Rs. 50 lakh to Narayanan.The Court then constituted a three-member panel under retired judge, Justice DK Jain to identify those responsible for the alleged conspiracy and subsequently the Central government had requested the Court to take cognisance of the report submitted by the Jain committee.Consequently, the Supreme Court forwarded the report to the CBI as it felt that the findings of the committee deserved thorough investigation.The CBI then opened a criminal enquiry against several former law enforcement officials allegedly involved in the police frame-up.The CBI had after examining the Jain panel report, filed a First Information Report (FIR) marked as classified in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Thiruvananthapuram in July this year.The offences alleged in the new FIRs against several of the accused are under the following Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC):167 - Public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury;218 - Public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment;330 - Voluntarily causing hurt to extort confession;323 - Voluntarily causing hurt;195 - Giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of offence punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonment;348 - Wrongful confinement to extort confession;365 - Kidnapping or abduction with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person;477A - Falsification of accounts;506 - Criminal Intimidation;120B - Criminal Conspiracy..[Read Order]