New Delhi, Sep 14: The Supreme Court on Friday granted a compensation of Rs 50 lakh to former senior scientist of ISRO, S Nambi Narayanan, who was falsely implicated in an espionage case by the Intelligence Bureau and Kerala Police. While granting Nambi Narayanan Rs 50 lakh compensation, the apex court also said his arrest was 'needless'.

"The arrest of ISRO scientist Nambi Narayan is needless and unnecessary," the top court observed, granting him compensation of Rs 50 lakh. Narayanan has been paid a compensation of around Rs 11 lakh so far. He sought a probe for being allegedly falsely implicated in an espionage case. Paid compensation of around Rs 11 lakh, he has filed a suit seeking Rs 1 crore as damages. India, France to Collaborate on ISRO's First Human Space Mission.

Narayanan had moved the top court callegnging the Kerala High Court judgment upholding the state government's decision not to take action against the officials who had falsely implicated him in the case. Narayanan said he was seeking a fresh probe as he wanted to know the motive behind the case which caused a 15-year delay in the development of cryogenic engine, resulting in a loss of billions of dollars to India. ISRO Keen to Outsource PSLV, Small Satellite Launch Vehicle.

According to his lawyer C Unikrishnan, Narayanan -- who studied in the Princeton University and worked with National Aeronautics and Space Administration -- came to India to work with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), refusing the offer of US citizenship. Narayanan told the court that his dream was that India becomes a space power.

Narayanan was working on a cryogenic engine when he was arrested on November 30, 1994, in a fabricated case and jailed for 50 days.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 14, 2018 11:16 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).