Overview
- A division bench at the Nagpur bench set aside convictions under IT Act Section 66F and key Official Secrets Act provisions while upholding a three-year term under OSA Section 5(1)(d) for unauthorised possession.
- The court found no evidence that any BrahMos data was transmitted to Pakistan or extracted via malware, noting the absence of conclusive forensic proof.
- Investigators had recovered 19 BrahMos-related files from Nishant Agarwal’s personal device, which the court treated as a procedural lapse rather than espionage.
- Agarwal, arrested in 2018 and sentenced to life by a Nagpur sessions court in 2024, walked out of Nagpur Central Prison on Tuesday after the High Court credited time served.
- Government counsel indicated the prosecution may challenge the ruling, leaving the possibility of further appellate review.