Bombay HC Clears Ex-BrahMos Engineer of Spy Charges; Life Term Overturned

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has set aside the life sentence of former BrahMos Aerospace engineer Nishant Agrawal, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove he acted against India’s national

interest in an espionage case dating back to 2018.Agrawal, arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), had been sentenced to life in June last year by a Nagpur sessions court. The High Court, however, cleared him of the major charges under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and the Information Technology Act. It upheld only one conviction, for negligence, under Section 5(1)(d) of the OSA, which carries a three-year sentence. He will receive credit for the time he has already spent in custody.A division bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Pravin Patil said the prosecution had produced no evidence to show that Agrawal engaged in conduct threatening the “unity, integrity, security or safety of India” or that he intended to "strike terror in society". The bench said the prosecution also failed to establish "the circumstances or the conduct of the accused or his known character to show purpose prejudicial to the safety or interest of the state."The court noted Agrawal’s strong professional record at BrahMos Aerospace, where he served as a Senior System Engineer and was recognized with the Young Scientist Award. His Annual Confidential Reports were consistently marked “very good” or “outstanding,” the judges said. They pointed out that he was part of the core team that delivered 70 to 80 BrahMos missiles to the armed forces between 2014 and 2018.Despite having access to sensitive information, the court said “none of the conduct of the appellant was ever found against the national interest or (it was shown) that he had any such intention since joining BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited.” It added that there was no proof he “tampered or misused the information available” on his office computer.On Agrawal’s online communications with a person identified as “Sejal Kapoor,” the court said they appeared to relate to a job interview. Chat logs showed he had shared his bio-data and downloaded applications for employment in the United Kingdom’s aviation sector, the judges noted.After reviewing the entire case, the bench concluded it had “no hesitation” in finding that only the offence of negligence was proved, and that “no other offence, under which the appellant was tried, is proved by the prosecution.”Agrawal’s life term has now been overturned, although the three-year sentence for negligence remains.(With PTI inputs)