Nambi Narayanan was a senior scientist at ISRO who was falsely accused of espionage in 1994. He spent 50 days in jail and was tortured by police interrogators. In 1996, the charges were dismissed as false. Narayanan's successful career developing key technologies like India's Vikas engine was damaged by the false accusations. The documentary highlights Narayanan's contributions to India's space program and the injustice of the spy charges against him.

1. Nambi Narayanan….
The Scientist Who
Wasn’t A Spy
Truth must be the first imperative — no matter what the herd says

2. Nambi Narayanan’s Career and Life..
• S.Nambi Narayanan was an
ISRO scientist.
• He was the head of the
cryogenics division in Indian
Space Research Organization
(ISRO).
• After working for nearly two
decades, with French
assistance, his team
developed the Vikas engine
used by several ISRO rockets.
S.Nambi Narayanan

3. • Narayanan introduced the
liquid fuel rocket
technology in India in the
early 1970s, when A. P. J.
Abdul Kalam’s team was
working on solid motors.
• He foresaw the need for
liquid fuelled engines for
ISRO’s future civilian space
programs.
Nambi Narayanan’s Career and
Life…
The Vikas engine

4. • Narayanan developed liquid propellant motors, first
building the successful 600-kg thrust engine in the
mid-1970s and thereafter moving on to bigger
engines.
Nambi Narayanan’s Career and
Life…
India’s First Cryogenic Engine

5. • The Vikas engine used by
several ISRO rockets
including the Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle(PSLV) that
took Chandrayaan-1 to the
moon in 2008.
• The Vikas engine is used in
the second stage of PSLV and
as the second and the four
strap-on stages of Geo-
Synchronous Satellite
Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
Nambi Narayanan’s Career and
Life…
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)

6. • In 1992, India had signed an
agreement with Russia for
transfer of technology to
develop cryogenic-based
fuels.
• Prime Minister P.V
Narashimha Rao and Russian
President Boris Yeltsin signed
the agreement at the Kremlin
for Rs 235 crore, when the US
and France were offering the
same technology for Rs 950
crore and Rs 650 crore
respectively.
Nambi Narayanan’s Career and
Life…
Prime Minister P.V Narashimha Rao

7. • US President George H. W. Bush
wrote to Russia, raising objections
against this agreement and even
threatening to blacklist the country
from the select-five club.
• Russia, under Boris Yeltsin,
succumbed to the pressure and
denied cryogenic technology to
India.
• To bypass this monopoly, India
signed a new agreement with Russia
to fabricate four cryogenic engines
without a formal transfer of
technology.
Nambi Narayanan’s Career and
Life…
Boris Yeltsin
George H. W.
Bush

8. • ISRO had already reached
a consensus with Kerala
Hitech Industries Limited
(KELTEC) which would
have provided the
cheapest tender for
fabricating engines.
• But this did not happen as
the spy scandal surfaced
in late 1994.
Nambi Narayanan’s Career and
Life…
Fabricating engines

9. Nambi Narayanan’s Life Changes..
• From Now, Nambi Narayanan’s Life
began to change.
• In 1994, Narayanan was falsely
charged with leaking vital defense
secrets to two alleged Maldivian
intelligence officers, Mariam
Rasheeda and Fauzia Hassan.
• Defense officials said the secrets
pertained to highly confidential "flight
test data" from experiments with
rocket and satellite launches.
• Along with Nambi Narayanan and
another scientist, Dr. Sasikumaran was
also accused of selling ISRO secrets for
millions.
Mariam
Rasheeda
Dr. Sasikumaran

10. • Narayanan was arrested and spent 50
days in jail.
• He says that the Intelligence Bureau
(IB) officials who interrogated him
wanted him to make false accusations
against the top brass of ISRO. He
alleges that two IB officials had asked
him to implicate A E Muthunayakom,
Director of the Liquid Propulsion
System Centre (LPSC).
• When he refused to comply, he was
tortured until he collapsed and was
hospitalized.
Nambi Narayanan’s Life Changes...
A E Muthunayakom

11. • He says his main complaint against
ISRO is that it did not support him.
• Krishna Swamy Kasturirangan, who
was ISRO chairman at the
time, stated that ISRO could not
interfere in a legal matter.
Nambi Narayanan’s Life Changes...
Krishna Swamy Kasturirangan

12. • In May 1996, the charges were
dismissed as phony by the
Central Bureau of Investigation.
• They were also dismissed by
the Supreme Court of India in
April 1998.
• In September 1999, the
National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC) passed
strictures against the
government of Kerala for
having damaged Narayanan’s
distinguished career in space
research along with the
physical and mental torture to
which he and his family were
subjected.
Nambi Narayanan’s Life Changes...
Supreme
Court of
India
CBI

13. • After the dismissal of charges
against them, the two
scientists, Sasikumaran and
Narayanan were transferred out of
Thiruvananthapuram and were
given desk jobs.
• In 2001, the National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC) ordered
the Kerala State Government to
pay him a compensation of ₹ 1
crore (10 million)
• The Kerala High Court ordered a
compensation amount of Rs 10
lakhs to be paid to Nambi
Narayanan based on an appeal
from NHRC India in September
2012.
Nambi Narayanan’s Life Changes...

14. • On October 3, 2012, The
Hindu Reported that Kerala
Government has dropped
charges against police
officials who were alleged to
have falsely implicated Nambi
Narayanan in the espionage
case on the grounds that over
15 years had passed since the
case was initiated.
Nambi Narayanan’s Life
Changes...
Siby Mathews

15. Nambi Narayanan’s Life In Cinema..
• Mohanlal is doing the
role of scientist Nambi
Narayanan.
• Anand Naryanan
Mahadevan who is
bringing the life of
Nambi Naryanan into
the silver screen of
cinema.
• It named Witch Hunt.
Mohanlal

16. 16

17. The End
Done By :-
Moideen Thashreef
Jayaraj J Nair