KOCHI: The Supreme Court order, directing to probe the conspiracy involved in framing former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan in the spy case, has brought back theories of involvement of US spy agency (CIA) in the case into the limelight again. Though CBI had earlier dismissed the theory of CIA conspiracy and the role of government officials in it as “averments based on surmises and conjectures”, it will have to reinvestigate the angle following the apex court order.
The CBI made the statement when a petition was filed before Kerala High Court in 2013 seeking a probe into the conspiracy hatched by certain officials in connivance with CIA to plot the espionage case.
It was in a counter statement filed to the petition filed by K K Ramachandran Master of Kalpetta in Wayanad that the CBI submitted “it is a perception of the petitioner that the ISRO espionage case was fabricated in connivance with CIA. The petitioner has not supported his averments with any material related to the role of CIA in fabrication of the case.”
It said, “The role of IB officers and police officers of Kerala was also probed and it was reflected in the police report. Further involvement of CIA or its connivance with IB officials or Kerala Police team had not emerged...”The CBI had also submitted that “The case of espionage in ISRO was investigated in the year 1994-1995 and during investigation very wide area of espionage or conspiracy related to it was probed.”
The court dismissed the petition on October 8, 2020, after the petitioner sought to withdraw it.Former Director General of Prosecutions (DGP) T Asaf Ali said the SC order seemed to be like a direction to conduct an investigation into an investigation. “CBI had already completed the probe and filed a closure report acquitting all the accused. Now the apex court has ordered a probe into the conspiracy angle in the same case” he said.