ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Maldivian women seek Rs 100 million compensation in ISRO case

Maldivian women Mariam Rasheeda and Fousiya Hassan, who returned to their home country after spending nearly four years in jails in Kerala in connection with the Indian Space Research Organisation espionage case, have initiated legal proceedings against Chief Minister E K Nayanar and 11 others for compensation of Rs 100 million.

The counts on which the compensation has been sought are "malicious prosecution, illegal detention, torture and defamation".

The chief minister has been accused of reaping political mileage from the case and coercing his colleagues in the state cabinet for detaining the two foreigners under the National Security Act after they were acquitted along with the four fellow Indian accused by the Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate.

A legal notice seeking compensation of Rs 50 million each within 60 days was issued to the chief minister and the others through their Thiruvananthapuram-based lawyer Prasad Gandhi.

The others arraigned in the case include Chief Secretary R Mohan Kumar, former director general of police C A Chali, Inspector General of Police Siby Mathews, Circle Inspector S Vijayan, Sub-Inspector Thampi S Durgadutt and Deputy Superintendent of Police Joshua.

The Kerala government, represented by the chief secretary, the Government of India, represented by the home secretary, and the directors of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Intelligence Bureau have also been made parties in the case.

The police officials have been charged with suppressing material facts related to the case from the higher authorities and torturing the accused while in police custody.

The notice has warned that the parties will be proceeded against separately if they failed to arrange the compensation within the stipulated period.

The observation made by the Supreme Court -- in its April 29 judgment that the Kerala government's action of reinvestigating the case closed by the CBI did not conform to the known pattern of responsible governance -- is apparently the strength behind the move for compensation.

The apex court itself had ordered a compensation of Rs 100,000 to each accused while quashing the Kerala government notification of June 27, 1997, which enabled the state police to reopen the case after the acquittal of the accused by the Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate.

The Supreme Court had quashed the notification on the ground of ''malafide exercise of power''.

The impugned notification was issued by the Communist government led by Nayanar soon after it came to power in May 1996. It was upheld by the Kerala high court.

Mariam Rasheeda and Fousiya Hassan, who were acquitted in the case along with four Indians, including two ISRO scientists Nambi Narayanan and Sasikumaran were detained by the Kerala government under the NSA.

Fousiya Hassan was released on December 12, 1997 following the Supreme Court's interim order. However, Mariam, against whom a defamation case was filed by Vijayan and Thampi, continued to languish in the central jail at Viyur till April 30, 1998. She left Kerala on July 3 after the court exempted her from personal appearance in the case.

EARLIER REPORTS:
'We would not have proceeded with the ISRO case if the high court had prevented us'
Mariam Rasheeda can go home, finally!
SC finds ISRO case farce, orders Rs 100,000 compensation to each accused

Tell us what you think of this report