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ISRO ghost haunts again

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

The Rs 100 million defamation suit in the Indian Space Research Organisation spy case against Kerala Chief Minister E K Nayanar and 11 government officials has taken an intriguing turn, with Mariam Rasheeda disowning the legal notice her counsel had served.

The notice had come soon after the Supreme Court exonerated Rasheeda and Fousiya Hassan, the two prime accused in the controversial case, in April. It asked for Rs 50 million compensation each for the suffering the two underwent in connection with the false charges.

Now, however, Rasheeda claims that the notice her counsel Prasad Gandhi had sent was without her knowledge. In a letter from her home in the Maldives, she claimed she came to know about the legal proceedings initiated by the advocate from his junior K G Baburaj only recently.

She was not a party to the charge and, therefore, was not responsible for any consequences, the letter said.

Fousiya has not disowned the notice so far.

The counts on which the compensation is sought are 'malicious prosecution, illegal detention, torture and defamation'. Nayanar was accused of reaping political mileage from the case and coercing his cabinet colleagues to detain the two foreigners under the National Security Act after they were acquitted by the Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate.

The notice sought the compensation within 60 days.

Legal circles say Rasheeda's volte face is the outcome of the running feud between her and Prasad Gandhi, who, sources said, created a scene at the airport when the Maldivian was about to depart, demanding a 'hefty' payment.

Rasheeda's side is that she had agreed to an advance of Rs 100,000, sanctioned by the state government on the apex court's order. The balance was to be paid after she mobilised funds back home.

In another interesting development, former Supreme Court judge V R Krishna Iyer and former Kerala high court judge Chandrashekhara Menon have demanded the reopening of the case.

The former made the demand in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. A copy has been forwarded to former Intelligence Bureau officer P A Viswambaran.

Viswambaran, who was part of the original investigating team, had resigned, alleging pressure to suppress the case.

Justice Iyer pointed out that contrary to the Central Bureau of Investigation findings, the IB and some police officials believed that espionage did take place at the ISRO. Originally investigated by the Kerala police, the case was taken over by the CBI following a request from the then United Democratic Front government headed by K Karunakaran.

Karunakaran resigned when faced with the charge that he shielded one of the police officers involved in the case.

Justice Menon, president of the People's Union for Civil Liberties' Kerala unit, demanded a judicial inquiry to ascertain whether there were attempts to scuttle the investigation. In a statement issued at Kochi, the human rights activist said people had a right to know on what basis the charges were made and how far investigations progressed.

Referring to the circumstances under which the SC rejected the Kerala government's plea for reinvestigation, Justice Menon said if the state found that the conclusions drawn by the CBI were not proper, the only course open to it was to persuade the Centre to lodge a complaint in accordance with Section 13 of the Indian Official Secrets Act.

He noted that the central government, in its appeal, had supported the appellants. He said it was interesting to note that the IB officers who investigated the case have been awarded the President's police medal, while serious allegations were made about the CBI inquiry recently.

Justice Menon requested the Centre and state governments to do the needful to remove the misgivings from the people's minds.

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