KOCHI: Former DGP Siby Mathews, fourth accused in a case relating to conspiracy to frame former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan and others in the 1994 espionage case, on Friday approached the Kerala High Court challenging the order of sessions court, Thiruvananthapuram imposing a time limit on the pre-arrest bail granted to him. Justice K Haripal will consider the case today.
While granting bail to him the sessions court had held that "after a period of 60 days from the date of this order, the petitioner has to resort to remedies provided in Section 437 or 439 of the CrPC or such other remedies as are advised to him."
In his petition, Siby Mathews contended that the time limit imposed on the pre-arrest bail granted to him ought to be set aside, as it was in stark violation of the law settled by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had held that an order granting bail should not be limited to a fixed period and the life of an order of anticipatory bail may continue till the end of the trial.
He submitted that he is fully cooperating with the investigation by the CBI New Delhi unit. It was relevant to note that the allegations relate to incidents that had occurred in 1994. Therefore, the custodial interrogation of the petitioner may not be necessary to probe the matter. Hence, he sought to vacate the condition restricting the validity of anticipatory bail to a period of 60 days.