GN Saibaba, 54, is wheelchair-bound and 99 per cent disabled.Former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba, who had been imprisoned over alleged Maoist links, has been acquitted by the Bombay High Court. Saibaba, along with five others, had been convicted in 2017 by a Sessions court.
The high court initially acquitted Saibaba on October 14, 2022, but the Supreme Court overturned this decision, referring the case back to the high court for a fresh hearing.
GN Saibaba, 54, is wheelchair-bound and 99 per cent disabled. He is presently lodged in Nagpur Central Jail.
Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes today overturned the verdict of a Nagpur sessions court that had convicted GN Saibaba and others in 2017.
The bench stated that it was acquitting all the accused due to the prosecution’s failure to establish the case beyond reasonable doubt. Furthermore, it deemed the sanction obtained by the prosecution to charge the accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as “null and void.”
While the prosecution did not seek a stay on the high court’s order, it expressed intentions to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
In the 2017 trial, a Sessions court in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district had found Saibaba and five others, including a journalist and a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student, guilty of alleged Maoist links and engaging in activities construed as waging war against the nation. They were convicted under various provisions of the UAPA and the Indian Penal Code.
The previous acquittal on October 14, 2022, by another bench of the high court, highlighted the “null and void” nature of the trial proceedings due to the absence of a valid sanction under the UAPA.
On the same day of Saibaba’s acquittal, the Maharashtra government approached the Supreme Court to challenge the decision. Initially staying the order, the Supreme Court later, in April 2023, set aside the high court’s ruling and directed a fresh hearing of Saibaba’s appeal.