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MP acquitted in Kochi marine survey case

Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Rajendran Nair has exonerated former Congress MP Professor K V Thomas in the marine survey espionage case off Kerala's Kochi coast.

The judge ordered that the three other accused, two French nationals and a Goan be further tried for the offences charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The court said the criminal conspiracy charge against Professor Thomas -- that he had asked the Kochi port authorities to render assistance to the French nationals -- was without basis.

"No prima facie case has been made out against him by the CBI," the magistrate said.

According to the CBI, the unauthorised marine survey was conducted during December 1995 by Francis Clavel and Elle Phillipe, and Captain S M Furtado on the French vessel Galathee.

If the material collected during the survey reached a hostile country, it would affect the security of the country, the agency claimed.

UNI

EARLIER REPORT:
Kochi espionage accused allowed to go home
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