Bombay High Court clears ex-BrahMos scientist Nishant Agarwal of espionage charges, reduces sentence

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has overturned the life sentence of Nishant Agarwal, a former senior scientist at BrahMos Aerospace, clearing him of major espionage accusations. This ruling opens the door for his release after having served over six years in custody. Agarwal was previously sentenced to life imprisonment in 2024 after being accused of leaking classified missile-related data to Pakistani intelligence agencies.

However, in a judgment by Justices Anil Kilor and Pravin Patil, the court dismissed his conviction under the Information Technology Act (Section 66(f) – cyber terrorism) and the Official Secrets Act (OSA), concluding that while Agarwal had violated certain protocols, the prosecution could not prove that sensitive information had been transmitted to Pakistan or its operatives.

Despite being acquitted of the more serious espionage charges, the court maintained his conviction under Section 5(1)(d) of the Official Secrets Act for unlawful possession of confidential documents on his personal device. He received a three-year sentence for this offense. Given that Agarwal has already been in custody since October 2018, the court ruled that his sentence was considered served.

Also Read: India and UAE hail ‘natural partnership’ at Eid Al Etihad celebrations in Delhi

The prosecution had argued that Agarwal fell victim to a honey-trap operation by Pakistani agents who used fake female profiles on Facebook to manipulate him, and that malware on his laptop transferred sensitive data to foreign servers. However, the court found no solid technical evidence linking the data transfer to Pakistani operatives.

Government Pleader Adv. Sanjay Doifode emphasised that the claims regarding data transmission could not be substantiated. The court's ruling also cleared Agarwal of charges under Section 66(f) of the IT Act, which had been levied based on the assumption that his data might have been extracted or transferred to third parties via malicious software. However, the prosecution failed to prove that any such transfer occurred.

The former BrahMos engineer was initially arrested in 2018, marking a significant espionage case involving the prestigious missile project. Agarwal, who had worked as a senior system engineer on the BrahMos supersonic missile system, was accused of sharing classified information with operatives of Pakistan's ISI.

His arrest shocked his colleagues, as he was a respected engineer and recipient of the DRDO Young Scientist Award. Investigators found his online communications with suspected Pakistani operatives, supposedly using fake Facebook profiles traced to Islamabad. Though his sentence for espionage has been annulled, Agarwal's conviction for possessing classified documents without authorization stands, but the court has deemed his six-year imprisonment sufficient for this lesser charge.