New Delhi:Â Â A court here has paved the way for the trial of an Indian Navy official on charges of conspiring with Pakistani agencies and passing them sensitive documents and information regarding the armed forces.
Additional Sessions Judge Daya Prakash in a recently passed order framed various charges dealing with conspiracy and the Official Secrets Act against Chand Kumar Prasad, a navy mechanic.
The court fixed March 15 for recording the prosecution’s evidence.
Prasad was arrested from the New Delhi railway station by Delhi Police in 2010. Confidential documents, including two diaries having details of the Indian armed forces, two mobile phones and three memory cards, were seized from him.
The prosecutor told the court that the memory cards contained photographs of confidential documents of the navy.
The court said that after perusal of the charge sheet, the recovered articles and his disclosure, the charge of spying was made against Prasad and that there was sufficient material to frame charges against him.
The court rejected Prasad’s submission that being a sole accused in the case, charges of criminal conspiracy cannot be framed against him.
The court said that according to investigating agencies, Prasad committed the offence with the help of Pakistani agencies.
“Simply because they are not before this court for facing trial does not absolve the accused from the charge of criminal conspiracy,” the court said.
Police said that during the probe, Prasad admitted that he provided secret documents relating to the navy to Pakistani intelligence agents in Nepal in lieu of money.
Police said Prasad also met a Pakistani named Masoom Alam and received telephone calls from him.