ISRO espionage case: Kerala HC quashes order on time limit of bail to ex-DGP Siby Mathews
KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday quashed the order by the Sessions Court, Thiruvananthapuram, imposing a time limit on the anticipatory bail granted to former DGP Siby Mathews, who is the fourth accused in a case relating to conspiracy to frame former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan and others in the 1994 espionage case.
While granting bail to Siby Mathews, the sessions court, in its order dated August 24, 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".
Kerala High Court judge Justice K Haripal issued the order on the petition filed by Siby Mathews seeking to remove the condition. The CBI objected to the application on the ground that this should have been taken before the trial court.
Senior Advocate P Vijayabhanu, counsel for the petitioner, contended that the time limit imposed on the pre-arrest bail granted to him ought to be set aside, as it was in 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. 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.