CUTTACK: Investigation into the Chandipur Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) espionage case has come under judicial scrutiny with the Orissa High Court on Tuesday seeking an update on the ongoing investigation.
Acting on a PIL, the division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice AK Mohapatra directed both the Central and State governments to file their respective affidavits informing the court on the present status of investigation. The bench fixed December 7 as the next date for hearing on the matter while directing for filing of the affidavits one week prior to it.
The espionage case had surfaced with the arrest of five Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, employees on September 13 and 16 for allegedly leaking classified information from the defence establishment. The State Crime Branch had since taken over the investigation. A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team had also been to Balasore to probe into the alleged links of the accused persons with Pakistani agents.
Advocate Arun Kumar Budhia filed the PIL on September 28. He appeared in person when the petition was taken up on Tuesday. The petition expressed apprehension that it may not be possible on the part of the State Crime Branch to investigate into the case as the nature of offence is very sensitive.