A former ISRO scientist who has alleged mental cruelty and torture by the Kerala police after his arrest in 1994 in a spy scandal must be given Rs. 50 lakh compensation, the Supreme Court ordered today. Nambi Narayanan was "arrested unnecessarily, harassed and subjected to mental cruelty," said a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra ruling on the ISRO spy case, reports NDTV.

The court has asked a former Supreme Court judge DK Jain to investigate his allegations against Kerala police officers.

The former ISRO or Indian Space Research Organisation scientist, now in his seventies, had petitioned the court saying he had been illegally detained and tortured, NDTV reported.

He was in charge of the cryogenics division when he was charged with spying and arrested. The CBI, which took over the probe from the Kerala police in 1996, said the case against Nambi Narayanan was baseless, and closed it. The CBI report also listed several lapses committed by the police officers and recommended action against them, reports NDTV.