Who is Nishant Agarwal? BrahMos scientist arrested for 'passing defence secrets' to Pakistan cleared of charges

Nishant Agarwal, former a scientist at the BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL) who was arrested in 2018 for allegedly passing sensitive defence secrets to Pakistani officials, has been cleared of the main charges under the Information Technology Act and the Official Secrets Act. A court had earlier sentenced Agarwal to 14 years in prison for allegedly using IT systems to transfer classified information to intelligence operatives based in Pakistan. After being cleared of charges, Nishant Agarwal is now eligible for immediate release.

The only conviction upheld by the court pertains to the possession of official documents on Agarwal's personal devices, for which the lower court had sentenced him to three years of imprisonment. Agarwal has already served this term during his detention. The fresh ruling ends a long legal battle for Agarwal that had received widespread attention due to the sensitive nature of the alleged security breach.

Agarwal was employed in the technical research section of BAPL, a joint venture between India and Russia that manufactures the BrahMos missiles. He was arrested in 2018 through a joint operation of Military Intelligence (MI) and the Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. Investigators associated with the case have said that crucial documents related to the BrahMos missile programme were found on Agarwal's personal computers, clearly violating the security norms of the BAPL.