Former ISRO chief Madhavan Nair moves CAT against blacklisting

Former Indian Space Research Organisation chairman – banned along with three former colleagues from ever holding a government-controlled post over the controversial Antrix-Devas deal – has challenged the government order before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

Questioning the rationale behind the ban, Nair said on Monday, ''I have asked for justice and want my honour to be restored by revoking the ban imposed on me.'' The petition would be taken up today.

Nair and his former colleagues A Bhaskar Narayana, former scientific secretary, K N Shankara, former director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, and K R Sridharamurthi, former director of Antrix Corp (the commercial arm of ISRO) were debarred on 13 January.

Nair has also filed a plea under the Right to Information (RTI) act to get details on why he was blacklisted. However, the RTI application was rejected by the department of space. Nair plans to file another appeal today.

The ban came after a panel found lapses of judgement on the part of Nair and his team while dealing with the deal, saying the contract was heavily loaded in favour of Devas Multi Media Pvt Ltd, a company floated by former ISRO officials.

Last week, the department of space had declined to reveal the specific recommendations and reasons for banning Nair from government jobs.