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Nishant Agarwal, a scientist at BrahMos Aerospace Limited, has been cleared of major charges related to passing defense secrets. He was arrested in 2018. The higher judiciary has now absolved him of charges under the Information Technology Act and Official Secrets Act. Agarwal will be released soon, having served his sentence for possessing official documents on his personal device.
Nishant Agarwal, a scientist at BrahMos Aerospace Limited, who was arrested in 2018 for allegedly passing sensitive defense secrets to Pakistan intelligence operatives, has been absolved of the major charges under the Information Technology Act and the Official Secrets Act.
The lower court had earlier sentenced Agarwal to 14 years in prison for allegedly using IT systems to transmit classified information to adversaries of the country. However, in a significant development, the higher judiciary has now cleared him of these charges.
The only conviction upheld pertains to the possession of official documents on his personal device, for which the lower court had sentenced him to three years in prison.
As Agarwal has already served this term during his detention, he is now eligible for immediate release.
This ruling effectively ends the legal battle for Agarwal in the high-profile case that had attracted widespread attention due to the sensitive nature of the alleged breach involving defense secrets.
Arrested in October 2018 through a joint operation by Military Intelligence (MI) and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, Agrawal was employed in the technical research section of BAPL, an Indo-Russian joint venture that manufactures BrahMos missiles.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Nishant Agarwal, a scientist at BrahMos Aerospace Limited, who was arrested in 2018 for allegedly passing sensitive defense secrets to Pakistan intelligence operatives, has been absolved of the major charges under the Information Technology Act and the Official Secrets Act.
The lower court had earlier sentenced Agarwal to 14 years in prison for allegedly using IT systems to transmit classified information to adversaries of the country. However, in a significant development, the higher judiciary has now cleared him of these charges.
The only conviction upheld pertains to the possession of official documents on his personal device, for which the lower court had sentenced him to three years in prison.
As Agarwal has already served this term during his detention, he is now eligible for immediate release.
This ruling effectively ends the legal battle for Agarwal in the high-profile case that had attracted widespread attention due to the sensitive nature of the alleged breach involving defense secrets.
Arrested in October 2018 through a joint operation by Military Intelligence (MI) and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, Agrawal was employed in the technical research section of BAPL, an Indo-Russian joint venture that manufactures BrahMos missiles.
BrahMos scientist Nishant Agarwal arrested for 'passing secrets' to Pakistan cleared of charges | Nagpur News - The Times of India
Nishant Agarwal, a scientist at BrahMos Aerospace Limited, has been cleared of major charges related to passing defense secrets. He was arrested in 20
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
