Madras High Court Dismisses Ex-Serviceman’s Appeal Alleging Surveillance And Microwave Radiation Targeting By Defence Space Agency

A Division Bench of Justice S.M. Subramaniam and Justice K. Rajasekar observed, “In this regard, the appellant has not attached or produced any evidences in support of these statements and does not even know who is targeting him.”

The Court added, “The statements of the appellant are in nature of disclosing the potential of a (unknown) technology, are found hypothetical and without any evidence.”

The Appellant appeared in person, while Central Government Standing Counsel T.L. Thirumalaisamy represented the Respondents.

Brief Facts

The Appellant, an ex-serviceman, was running a restaurant and sustained losses. He claimed that due to the high-frequency microwave radiation used by the Defence Space Agency against him, he had suffered from health issues. His grievance was that he had been experiencing the Havana Syndrome for a few years and had felt unknown high-frequency microwave radiation affecting various parts of his body, including his spinal area, eyes, tongue, nose, and brain. He alleged symptoms such as electric shocks in his teeth, headaches, body chills, itching, unusual smells, heating effects from infrared rays, and severe body aches.

However, the Appellant had not produced any medical records to substantiate these claims. His allegation was that the Defence Space Agency had deliberately targeted him with radiation, causing harmful effects on his body.

The Appellant also alleged that the Respondents had used this technology to track his every movement, even when he was inside a building. He further claimed that those targeting him with the help of this radiation could easily increase or decrease its intensity and that increasing the intensity of the radiation caused him severe headaches.

The Appellant further contended that the Havana Technology was first used by Cuba on USA diplomats which became a serious issue in 2016 by making more than 200 diplomats family victim of this, and had also attached The Harvard Gazette (Gazette) as evidence.

The Respondents contended that the said Gazette itself mentioned that intelligence agencies had been unable to determine the cause of the incident and that the police in Vienna were investigating the incidents, the cause of the illness had not been identified, and a 2018 FBI report on the Havana embassy victims had declared their conditions to be psychologically driven, most likely due to stress. They further argued that the Appellant’s statement pertained to possible incidents beyond the territorial jurisdiction of India, which were outside the purview of their department.

Reasoning of the Court

The Court noted that the Appellant had not attached any evidence to support his statements and observed, “The statements of the appellant are in the nature of disclosing the potential of an (unknown) technology, are found hypothetical and without any evidence.”

The Court further noted that the Appellant had not produced any medical records to establish such reactions in his body and that his allegation of the Defence Space Agency targeting him with radiation, causing harmful effects, remained unsubstantiated.

The Bench, after considering the view of the learned Single Judge, who had examined these factors and found that the Appellant had not established any cause for granting the relief sought, concurred with the decision, and accordingly, dismissed the appeal.

Cause Title: Boopalan B v. Union of India & Ors. (Writ Appeal No.3686 of 2024)

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