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Synopsis

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today approached the Supreme Court challenging the grant of anticipatory bail to Siby Mathews, who is facing probe for allegedly falsely implicating former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan on espionage charges.

According to the New Indian Express, a sessions court in Kerala, while granting bail to Mathews, laid down a condition that after a period of 60 days from the date of the order, he has to resort to remedies provided in Section 437 or 439 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Mathews challenged the time limit imposed on the anticipatory bail before the Kerala High Court.

The Kerala High Court, in November 2021, set aside the 60 days time limit set by the Sessions court. The CBI has challenged this order before the Supreme Court.

When the matter came up for hearing today, ASG SV Raju appeared for CBI before a bench of Justices Khanwilkar and Pardiwala. He asked the court to tag the plea with other pending pleas, filed by CBI arising out of the same incident. It is to be noted that CBI has approached the Supreme Court challenging the order of the Kerala High Court granting anticipatory bail to four others, accused of falsely implicating Narayanan.

Court, on hearing the submissions, passed an order tagging the case against Siby Mathew with other pleas pertaining to the same incident and adjourned the matter.

Nambi Narayanan, a famed ISRO scientist, was accused of transferring certain confidential documents on India’s space program to foreign countries. As a result of such allegations, Narayanan spent two months in jail. The case was initially investigated by the State police before being handed over to the CBI.

Upon the probe being handed over to CBI, it was unearthed that the then top police officials in Kerala were responsible for Narayanan’s illegal arrest. According to sources, the case resulted in a political fallout, with a section in the Congress targeting the then Chief Minister late K. Karunakaran over the issue. Karunakaran, eventually resigned.

Case title: CBI Vs Siby Mathews