NEW DELHI: A city court has granted bail to a former Indian Air Force official, who allegedly shared secret information with intelligence operatives suspected to be backed by Pakistan’s ISI after being “honeytrapped” in 2015.
Additional Sessions Judge Aparna Swami noted that the accused has already spent more than seven years in jail, half the maximum sentence prescribed for the alleged offence while granting relief to Ranjith K K, who was a Leading Aircraftman, a junior ranking official below a corporal, with the Indian Air Force (IAF) posted in Bhatinda.
The court took note of the submissions made by advocates Akash Vajpai and Javed Ali, who while appearing for the accused said a scrutiny of the case file reflected that no material delay can be attributed to the accused in causing delay in the trial.
“As per the record, all the material witnesses have been examined. At present, 12 witnesses are left to be examined. These witnesses are police officials who in no case can be influenced by the accused. The accused has already undergone seven years and approximately 10 months period of incarceration,” the order said.
The accused was charged for the offence punishable under Section 3 of Official Secrets Act the maximum punishment for which is 14 years in jail. The judge noted that the conduct of the applicant in jail was “satisfactory”.
“The applicant/accused has no previous criminal antecedents or involvement(s). Further, as 12 witnesses are still to be examined in the case file, this will take time for concluding the trial. Thus, as the accused has already undergone substantive period of incarceration, this court being guided by the directions of Apex Court… believes that accused is entitled to the relief,” the judge said.
Ranjith, a native of Malappuram district in Kerala, had joined the Indian Air Force in 2010. He was booked under various provisions of the Official Secrets Act. According to the prosecution, Ranjith was deceived by a cyber entity by the name Damini McNaught, who pretended to be an executive of a United Kingdon (UK)- based media firm and claimed she required from him some Indian Air Force-related information for an article in her news magazine in exchange for pecuniary benefits.