Any chance that the home ministry would have had to pursue the case was nipped when the director-general of military intelligence (DGMI), Lt Gen O.S. Lochab, told the court that the documents possessed by Iftikhar were not sensitive. The dgmi’s submission did not go down well with the home ministry, which even questioned his ability to judge the issue (though the documents are readily available at defence institutes and on the web). Finally, the ministry had to give in. Says V.K. Ohri, Iftikhar’s lawyer: "The charges are all false and we will move the court for compensation." He did not speculate on what the amount would be. The last time someone got a compensation for harassment and torture under the OSA was scientist Nambi Narayanan, accused of being involved in the ISRO espionage case.
