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Maoist links case: Bombay high court acquits former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba, 5 others
GN Saibaba, 54, is wheelchair-bound and 99 per cent disabled. He is presently lodged in Nagpur Central Jail.
The Bombay high court on Tuesday acquitted former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba and five others in the Maoist link case. A bench of justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes set aside the verdict of a Nagpur sessions court which had convicted GN Saibaba and others in 2017.
The Bombay high court bench delivered the verdict after rehearing the appeal by GN Saibaba after an earlier bench of the high court too had acquitted the disabled professor on October 14, 2022, Bar and Bench reported.
The bench said it was acquitting all the accused as the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt against them. It also held as "null and void" the sanction procured by the prosecution to charge the accused under provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
While the prosecution did not seek the high court to stay its order, it said it was likely to file an appeal in the Supreme Court immediately.
GN Saibaba, 54, is wheelchair-bound and 99 per cent disabled. He is presently lodged in Nagpur Central Jail.
In 2017, a sessions court in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district convicted Saibaba and five others, including a journalist and a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student, for alleged Maoist links and for indulging in activities amounting to waging war against the country. The trial court had held them guilty under various provisions of the UAPA and the Indian Penal Code.
On October 14, 2022, another bench of the high court acquitted Saibaba, noting the trial proceedings were "null and void" in the absence of a valid sanction under the UAPA.
The Maharashtra government had on the same day approached the Supreme Court challenging the decision.
The Supreme Court initially stayed the order and later in April 2023, set aside the high court order and directed it to hear the appeal filed by Saibaba afresh.
(With inputs from agencies)
