The Gujarat High Court, on Monday, rejected the bail plea of Kalpesh Turi, a former technical officer at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Turi is accused of cyber terrorism for allegedly transmitting photographs linked to ISRO's Space Applications Centre to a woman in Pakistan.

Justice MR Mengdey, presiding over the case, has denied Turi's bail for the second time. This decision echoes his previous ruling in October of last year, indicating a consistent stance on the matter.

The Court observed, “The record indicates that the trial of the offence has commenced and several witnesses have already been examined by the prosecution. Therefore, there appears no change in circumstance after the filing of the earlier bail application.”

Senior advocate Shalin Mehta, representing Turi, argued that the information shared by Turi was neither classified nor sensitive, and it did not relate to national security or intellectual property. Mehta emphasized that Turi was unaware of the woman's location outside India and asserted that Turi had merely shared workplace selfies.

However, the prosecution countered these assertions, claiming that the photographs indeed depicted the premises of ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad. It's noteworthy that Turi was arrested in January by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in Ahmedabad. At that time, he was employed as an antenna mechanical engineer at the SAC unit of ISRO in Ahmedabad, a position he had held since 2012.

On January 7, the ATS filed a FIR against Turi, charging him with cyber terrorism under Section 66 F(1)(B) of the Information Technology Act.

Case Title: Kalpeshkumar Babubhai Turi v. State of Gujarat