Lashing out at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) order to debar him and three other senior scientists from holding any post-retirement government jobs for their alleged involvement in the controversial Antrix-Devas S-band spectrum deal, former ISRO chairman G.Madhavan Nair on Wednesday said the decision smacked of a witch hunt.

Nair, who also did not spare current ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, said in a strongly-worded statement that: "This is a clear attempt to tarnish our images and I can see the personal agenda of current chairman Radhakrishnan behind all these things. I think somehow he turns out to be a non-performer and he is trying to camouflage his inefficiency under this cloud."

The Centre's decision is a severe punishment for the four former ISRO scientists, including former scientific secretary A Bhaskannarayana, former managing director of Antrix Corporation K R Sridharamurthi and former ISRO director of the space agency's Bangalore Satellite Centre K.Shankara. It was Antrix Corporation with whom the Devas contract was signed.

The PMO order of January 13, 2012, was signed by Sandhya Venugopal Sharma, director in the Department of Space who was "directed to convey the orders of competent authority" - a clear indication that the decision originated from the Prime Minister's Office which has administrative control over the Department of Space. The four former ISRO officials would be excluded from "re-employment, committee roles or any other important role under the government."

The tainted four shall also be "divested of any current assignment or consultancy with the government with immediate effect," according to the official order, copies of which were sent to all Central government departments, chief secretaries of the states and the National Security Adviser.

Nair did not wish to call Radhakrishnan a 'backstabber', but ironically he is now blaming the very person he nurtured and promoted within ISRO.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Nair said that he is tired of the entire episode. When asked if he played a key role in promoting Radhakrishnan to the post of chairman, the former chief ot the space agency said: "It is a known fact that I brought him up in ISRO."

In fact Radhakrishnan was thrown out of ISRO many years ago and I was the one who brought him back," Nair said.

In February 2011, the high level review committee formed to look into aspects of the Antrix Devas S-band spectrum deal prepared a questionnaire which was given to almost all members of ISRO, including the four blacklisted scientists. But Nair claimed that the the 15 questions looked no better than a sample survey conducted by college students. "The questionnaire asked no specific questions regarding the controversial deal nor did it serve any purpose in any sense.

We answered the 15 questions but we never got a reply from the committee after that," he said, adding that the the four scientists were never given a chance to present their version before the review team.

"I am aging and do not want to take any step in haste. My activities in the future cannot be stopped by dictatorial orders. Give me some time to think of what to do next," Nair said.

In Delhi, a senior government scientist who did not wish to be identified told Deccan Herald that "this is unprecedented. It underlines the importance of having strong sense of ethics for persons at high scientific positions."

At the centre of the controversy, lies a 2005 deal between Devas and Antrix that allowed Devas exclusive rights to 90 per cent of transponders in ISRO's Rs 269 crore GSAT-6 satellite for 12 years. In 2007, the same option was extended to Rs 147 crore GSAT-6A satellite whose launch cost was Rs 350 crore.

ISRO's top brass was accused of keeping the existence of the Antrix-Devas deal under wraps at the time of seeking approval for both satellites from the Space Commission and the Union Cabinet headed by the prime minister.

In the doghouse

+ Former ISRO chairman G.Madhavan Nair labels PMO decision a witch hunt

+ PMO's order of Jan 13, 2011, debars Nair and three other scientists from holding any post-retirement jobs for their alleged involvement in the controversial Antrix-Devas S-band spectrum deal

+ Three other scientists found guilty by the PMO are: Former scientific secretary A Bhaskarnarayan, former Antrix Corporation managing director K.R.Sridharmurthi and former Bangalore ISRO Satellite Centre director K.Shankara

+ The four have been 'divested of any current assignment or consultancy with the government with immediate effect'

+ Nair says PMO order is the 'personal agenda' of current ISRO chairman K.Radhakrishnan.

Describes him as a 'non-performer trying to camouflage his inefficiency'

Source: Indo-Asia News Service