The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has overturned the life sentence imposed on former BrahMos Aerospace engineer Nishant Agrawal, holding that the prosecution failed to show he acted against Indiaโs unity, integrity, security, or safety. The court, however, upheld his conviction for negligence under the Official Secrets Act.
A division bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Pravin Patil ruled that the prosecution had brought โnothing on recordโ to indicate that Agrawal had engaged in any conduct threatening national security or intended to strike terror.
Agrawal, an award-winning engineer with BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd, was arrested in 2018 on allegations of spying for Pakistanโs ISI. In June 2023, a sessions court had sentenced him to life imprisonment under provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
The High Court has now set aside all major charges, including those under the IT Act and the graver provisions of the OSA, while preserving his conviction under Section 5(1)(d) of the OSA for โnegligence and failure to take reasonable care of sensitive information in oneโs possession.โ He will continue to face the three-year sentence for this offence, with the court directing that he receive a set-off for the time already spent in custody.
The bench underlined that the prosecution failed to prove any conduct or circumstance indicating a purpose โprejudicial to the safety or interest of the state.โ
It noted that Agrawalโs Annual Confidential Reports consistently rated him โvery goodโ or โoutstanding,โ and that he had been promoted to Senior System Engineer and awarded the Young Scientist Award for his contributions.
The court highlighted that Agrawal had access to far more sensitive data in his role at BrahMos yet there was no evidence that he ever misused or tampered with the classified information available to him.
Agrawal was part of the core team that delivered 70โ80 BrahMos missiles to the armed forces between 2014 and 2018, further establishing his service record, the bench noted.
The High Court examined Agrawalโs communications with a person using the name โSejal Kapoor,โ which formed a significant plank of the prosecutionโs case. The bench found that these chats pertained to a job interview abroad.
Chat logs showed Agrawal sharing his bio-data and downloading applications for a potential job opportunity in the United Kingdomโs aviation sector. This, the court said, did not suggest espionage or activity against national interest.
After reviewing the entire record, the bench said it had โno hesitationโ in holding that only the offence of negligence under Section 5(1)(d) of the OSA was proved. โNo other offence, under which the appellant was tried, is proved by the prosecution,โ the judges concluded.
