Nishant Agarwal espionage case: Allegations of data leak, life term quashed | Explained News

Who is Nishant Agarwal?

Nishant, an NIT Kurukshetra passout and a resident of Haridwar, Uttarakhand, had joined the organisation as an government trainee on July 1, 2013. He labored in Hyderabad till December 2013 and accomplished his coaching on December 29, 2013.

Between December 30, 2013 and August 24, 2014, he labored in Hyderabad as a system engineer earlier than being transferred to BrahMos Nagpur in August 2014. From August 25, 2014, to December 31, 2016, he served as a system engineer in Nagpur and was promoted to senior system engineer from January 1, 2017.

In 2017, a senior officer beneficial Nishant’s identify for a ‘Young Scientist Award’, which he obtained throughout 2017–2018.

What had occurred, and what did the prosecution declare?

The case towards Agarwal started in 2018 when investigators alleged that he had fallen prey to a honey-trap operation. A Facebook consumer named Sejal Kapoor befriended him on-line, claiming to be a recruiter providing him an IT job in Canada with a wage of USD 30,000 a month.

In June, it was found {that a} Pakistani spy going by the Facebook identify ‘Sejal Kapoor’ had hacked into the pc programs of greater than 98 personnel of varied defence forces, together with the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force, between 2015 and 2018. The username lured these personnel (principally males) through the use of the oldest trick within the ebook, honey traps.

According to the trial court docket judgment, the alleged espionage passed off between July 2013 and September 2018, overlaying most of Agarwal’s time at BrahMos.

Investigators stated that in December 2017, three malware applications, specifically Trust-X, Chat 2 Hire, and Q-Whisper, have been downloaded on his laptop computer. They believed this malware later extracted delicate BrahMos missile data.

In October 2018, the UP Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) claimed that they obtained secret info stating that BrahMos data had been leaked. An FIR was filed on October 4, 2018, resulting in Nishant’s arrest on October 8, 2018. His home was searched. His units have been seized and despatched to CERT-In in New Delhi for forensic examination. A chargesheet within the case was filed in March 2019.

Nishant had additionally named some DRDO officers and a former senior official from Hyderabad with whom he had shared info, main the ATS to query a number of officers through the probe. Agarwal had been married solely 4 months when Uttar Pradesh ATS arrested him, and he spent greater than two years in solitary confinement after his arrest. The case was transferred to Nagpur a 12 months after his arrest.

How did the alleged honey-trap occur?

Investigators stated Agarwal had been focused by a honey-trap, a faux on-line id used to lure defence personnel.

A Facebook profile named ‘Sejal Kapoor’, claiming to be a Canadian recruiter, provided him a high-salary job overseas. Investigators later discovered that this account, together with profiles named ‘Neha Sharma’ and ‘Pooja Ranjan’, with whom he was in contact, operated from Pakistan.

The chats allegedly shifted from Facebook to LinkedIn. When Agarwal clicked a hyperlink despatched by ‘Sejal’ to speak to her ‘senior’, malware is believed to have put in itself on his laptop computer. The ATS claimed this malware quietly pulled out confidential BrahMos recordsdata from his private pc.

What sort of data was concerned?

Investigators revealed through the trial that Agarwal possessed 19 categorised BrahMos recordsdata on his private laptop computer, in violation of strict defence safety guidelines. These recordsdata contained technical particulars concerning the ‘BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile’, together with coaching manuals, manufacturing info, restricted paperwork, and even materials concerning the missile’s seeker know-how, which India obtained from Russia.

According to investigators, the recordsdata numbered 1 to 17 have been marked as ‘secret’ and recordsdata 18 and 19 have been marked as ‘restricted’. Officials stated within the court docket then that if such data have been compromised, an enemy nation might discover ways to jam or goal the missile, making the breach a critical nationwide safety difficulty.

Nishant spent greater than two years in solitary confinement after his arrest.

How have the courts dominated within the case?

In June 2024, the Nagpur classes court docket convicted Agarwal for Cyber terrorism underneath Section 66(F) of the IT Act and Multiple sections of the Official Secrets Act. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, plus a 14-year rigorous imprisonment term. His digital units have been additionally ordered to be disposed of underneath the provisions of the IT Act. Nishant challenged the conviction within the Nagpur Bench in June 2024, following which the court docket issued notices to Maharashtra authorities authorities searching for their response.

The High Court re-examined the proof and reached a distinct conclusion. A division bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Pravin Patil noticed that there is no such thing as a proof that data was despatched to Pakistan. The HC stated there was no technical proof that any of the categorised recordsdata have been ever transmitted to Pakistan, both manually by Agarwal or routinely by malware.

The prosecution had argued two prospects: that Nishant Agarwal himself shared the data, or the malware had routinely shared it. But the High Court held that neither idea was proved with proof. Only a procedural violation was confirmed.

Government Pleader Sanjay Doifode advised The Indian Express that the court docket discovered that Agarwal had certainly transferred categorised paperwork from his official system to his private laptop computer and stored 19 secret recordsdata with out authorisation, however this was a breach of process, not proof of spying and therefore just one offence stands.

The High Court upheld just one cost, Section 5(1)(d) of the Official Secrets Act — unauthorised possession of secret paperwork. The court docket sentenced him to a few years for this offence. Since Agarwal has already spent greater than six years in custody, the sentence is taken into account full.

What does this judgment imply for Agarwal now?

With the principle fees of cyber terrorism and spying struck down, Agarwal is now cleared of espionage. His remaining three-year sentence has already been served. He is now set to be launched.

This brings to an finish one of India’s greatest defence-related espionage circumstances, one which raised questions on on-line honey-traps, digital vulnerabilities, and safety practices inside delicate defence establishments.

What occurs subsequent?

The prosecution could enchantment the High Court ruling. But for now, the court docket has dominated that there is no such thing as a proof Agarwal leaked missile data to Pakistan, and his actions amounted solely to unauthorised possession of secret recordsdata, and he’s set to be launched quickly as soon as the formalities are accomplished.