4 min readPuneMar 18, 2026 01:15 AM IST
A sessions court in Pune hearing a case against senior scientist of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Pradeep Kurulkar, who was arrested for espionage and links to Pakistani intelligence operative, has ordered the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) to present its chargesheet before a magistrate court. The court order has been passed following specific issues raised by defence lawyers under provisions of the Official Secrets Act.
Kurulkar was arrested on May 3 in 2023 under provisions of the Official Secrets Act on the charges of spying and wrongful communication with a Pakistan based intelligence operative who had identified herself as “Zara Dasgupta”, in a suspected honey trap case. DRDO had placed Kurulkar under suspension a few days after his arrest by the Maharashtra ATS. In July 2023, the ATS had filed a chargesheet against Kurulkar before the Sessions court.
Kurulkar remains in prison under judicial custody as arguments are underway with regards to framing of charges against him and a discharge application filed by his defence lawyers advocates Rhishikesh Ganu and Raghav Puranik. “We contended that prosecution suffers from a fundamental legal defect owing to non-compliance with Section 13 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923. We argued that the statute clearly mandates that proceedings must be initiated by way of a formal complaint before a magistrate, and not merely through a police report or chargesheet,” said Ganu.
The court of Additional Sessions Judge PY Ladekar said in its order, “During the course of argument, a question as regards the provisions under Section 13 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and the charge-sheet ought to have been filed before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, has been argued by the advocate for the accused. It is submitted that the accused has a right to make submissions about the sections of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 mentioned in the charge-sheet and therefore, this court will have to discharge the accused.”
The court further said, “On the other hand, the Special Public Prosecutor while opposing the application referred to the various incriminating facts in the charge-sheet which support the filing of the charge-sheet for the above sections of the Official Secrets Act. Special PP also submitted that the accused never took any objection at the remand stage.”
Advocate Ganu said, “The court has appreciated our argument and has ordered that the chargesheet be filed before a magistrate court.” The court said in the order, “The charge-sheet be returned to the investigation Officer for presenting it before the Special Judicial Magistrate First Class, Pune in respect of offences investigated by ATS Kalachowki Police Station, Mumbai for the necessary action as per the provisions under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and CrPC. The accused be produced before the Magistrate Court forthwith for further directions on his detention.”
According to the ATS, the DRDO had received information about the accused illegally contacting a Pakistan-based operative. Subsequently, as per procedure, various electronic devices used by the accused, including cell phones, laptop and desktop hard discs, were seized by DRDO officials on February 24, 2023 for forensic investigation.
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Then a probe by the DRDO’s internal standing committee and a forensic analysis revealed that Kurulkar was allegedly in constant touch with Pakistan based intelligence operative through “WhatsApp messages, voice and video calls” — and shared sensitive information with her, as stated by ATS. According to the ATS, ‘Zara’ came in contact with Kurulkar through WhatsApp, telling him that she was a software engineer based in the UK. She allegedly lured Kurulkar by sending her several obscene messages, voice calls and video calls over Whatsapp. ATS has alleged that Kurulkar shared sensitive and classified information with Zara during multiple conversations between June 10, 2022, and February 24, 2023.
