ISRO Espionage Case - Justice DK Jain Committee Report By Itself Cannot Be Basis To Proceed Against Accused; CBI Will Have To Collect Materials Independently : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday clarified that the enquiry report submitted by former Supreme Court judge Justice DK Jain on the conspiracy angle against former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan in the infamous espionage case cannot be the sole basis to proceed against the alleged errant police officers.A bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna made it clear that the Central Bureau of Investigation must collect materials independently to proceed against the accused and cannot rely only on the Justice DK Jain committee report."After the registration of FIR, the investigating agency must collect materials on its own and cannot proceed on the basis of the report submitted by Justice DK Jain committee. That by itself cannot be basis to proceed against the respondents or persons named as accused in the FIR registered by the CBI", the bench said in the order.The bench made this clarification after Advocate Amit Sharma (counsel for accused officer Siby Mathews), Advocate Kaleeswaram Raj and counsel for other accused submitted before the bench that the Justice DK Jain committee report has not been shared with the accused. The lawyers argued that the refusal on the part of the CBI to share the report is causing prejudice to accused in availing their statutory remedies such as bail against the CBI FIR. They contended that the CBI is heavily relying on the report in the FIR.At this juncture, the bench observed that the report is no longer relevant as the CBI has registered an FIR."Nothing will turn on the report. The report cannot be the basis. The report is only an initial information. Ultimately it is the investigation which is done which will have the consequence. The report cannot be the basis for the prosecution", Justice Khanwilkar orally observed.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, informed the bench that the earlier order passed by the Court on April 15 had prohibited the publication of the Justice DK Jain report. The Solicitor General also informed the bench that the FIR, which has the gist of the Justice Jain committee report, can be uploaded during the course of today itself, if the court permits.In response, the bench said that no directions are needed from the court to upload the FIR, as the earlier prohibition was related only to the publication of Justice Jain committee report."The earlier order only required CBI to ensure that committee's report shouldn't be made public. Now that CBI has finally decided to proceed in matter, further steps after FIR registration will be taken as per law and no directions are required in that regard", the bench observed in the order.Additional Solicitor General SV Raju told the bench that the Justice DK Jain committee may have to be wound up, otherwise the Government will be obligated to continue paying salary and allowances to its members.Accepting this request, the bench passed an order to that effect :"As the report has been finally acted upon, we accede to the request of SV Raju, learned ASG that the Justice DK Jain committee constituted under the orders of this court may cease to function. We appreciate the efforts taken by the members of the committee, including the chairman", the bench said in the order.The bench also clarified in its order that the accused will have the liberty to take all possible remedies available in law, which will be decided by the concerned courts on merits in accordance with law.The apex court had appointed an enquiry commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice DK Jain on September 14, 2018 to probe the angle of larger conspiracy in fabricating the espionage case against former ISOR scientist Nambi Narayanan.The Court had also directed the Kerala government to cough up Rs 50 lakh compensation for compelling Narayanan to undergo 'immense humiliation'.On April 15 this year, the Supreme Court had directed the CBI to decide on further action based on the contents of the enquiry report submitted by Justice DK Jain. The Court had further directed the CBI to inform it the decision within three months.Following that, the CBI registered FIR naming certain officers of the Kerala police, who were then handling the ISRO Espionage case and had allegedly tortured Nambi Narayanan, as accused.In 2018, the Supreme Court had ordered setting up of the committee to take appropriate steps against the erring officials for causing 'tremendous harassment' and 'immeasurable anguish' to Narayanan and had directed the Centre and state government to nominate one officer each in the panel. Terming the police action against the ex-scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as a 'psycho-pathological treatment', the apex court had in September 2018 said that his 'liberty and dignity', basic to his human rights, were jeopardised as he was taken into custody and, eventually, despite all the glory of the past, was compelled to face 'cynical abhorrence'.The espionage case, which had hit the ...

ISRO Espionage Case - Justice DK Jain Committee Report By Itself Cannot Be Basis To Proceed Against Accused; CBI Will Have To Collect Materials Independently : Supreme Court

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