ISRO Espionage: Kerala High Court Quashes Sessions Court Order Imposing Time Limit On Siby Mathews' Pre-Arrest Bail

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday set aside the 60 days time limit imposed on the pre-arrest bail granted by the Sessions Court to former DGP Siby Mathews, the fourth accused in the ISRO espionage case.

Justice K. Haripal allowed the application filed by the former officer, thereby quashing the order of the Sessions Court. 

The Court had previously extended the time limit which was set to expire on 24th October several times since CBI had sought time to file its submissions in the matter.

In its response, CBI opposed the application arguing that the petitioner should have approached the trial court for such a relief. 

The criminal case pending against Mathews was registered on the basis of the recommendations put forth by the D.K Jain Committee to conduct an impartial and in-depth investigation by the Central Investigating Agency to unearth the conspiracy behind the allegedly false implication of former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayan and other scientists in the 1994 espionage case.

The applicant was arrayed as the fourth accused in the case. The allegations raised against the applicant, in particular, relate to the discharge of official duties as the DIG of Crimes in the Kerala Police in 1994.

The accused were accordingly booked under several provisions of the IPC. They approached different courts seeking pre-arrest bail in the matter.

Although the petitioner was granted bail in the matter, the Sessions Court curtailed the relief granted to him for a period of 60 days as the 6th condition in its order. The application contended that the petitioner is a senior citizen, a retired IPS officer who has been duly cooperating with the investigation agency so far.

It was also pointed out that the allegations relate to incidents that date back to 1994, which suggests that custodial interrogation of the petitioner can be dispensed with for the probe.

He further argued that the Sessions Judge had erred in restricting the validity of the anticipatory bail. On these grounds, it was submitted that the time limit may be vacated and accordingly set aside from the anticipatory bail granted to him to secure the ends of justice.

Case Title: Dr. Siby Mathews v. Central Bureau of Investigation