CHRONOLOGY-SC-ISRO SPY

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi 

Following is the chronology of events in the 1994 espionage case in which the Friday held that former ISRO S was "arrested unnecessarily, harassed and subjected to mental cruelty" and ordered a probe into the role of erring police officers:

*Oct 1994: Maldivian national arrested in Thiruvananthapuram for allegedly obtaining secret drawings of ISRO rocket engines to sell to

*Jan 1995: ISRO scientists and released on bail; the Maldivian nationals continue to be in custody.

*Apr 1996: The (CBI) files report before a court, says espionage case is false and there was no evidence to back the charges.

*May: Court accepts the CBI's report and discharges all accused.

*Jun: government decides to conduct re-investigation of the case by the which was challenged by Chandrasekhar.

*Nov: of Kerala dismisses the challenge, upheld government's notification which was later quashed by the

*May 1998: awards compensation of Rs one lakh to Narayanan and others, who were discharged in the case; directs the to pay the amount.

*Apr 1999: Narayanan approaches the (NHRC) claiming compensation from the state for the mental agony and torture suffered by him.

*Mar 2001: NHRC awards an interim compensation of Rs 10 lakh, asks the state to pay damages; government challenges the order.

*Sep 2012: HC directs the state to pay Rs 10 lakh to Narayanan.

*Mar 2015: HC leaves it to the to consider or not the CBI's report for taking disciplinary action against the erring police officers.

*Apr 2017: The Supreme Court begins hearing on Narayanan's plea, seeking action against former Kerala DGP Siby Mathews and others who had probed the matter.

*May 3, 2018: Three-judge bench comprising of Dipak Misra, Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud says it is considering awarding Narayanan a compensation of Rs 75 lakh and restoring his reputation.

*May 8: SC says it is considering asking to reinvestigate role of SIT officers in the case.

*May 9: SC says Narayanan has faced a dent in his reputation due to "malafide prosecution" and cannot evade "vicarious liability" to grant him compensation.

*Jul 10: SC reserves verdict on the plea; tells SC it was ready for a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the allegations by Narayanan.

*Sep 14: SC awards Rs 50 lakh compensation to 76-year-old Narayanan for being subjected to mental cruelty in the ISRO case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Fri, September 14 2018. 16:35 IST