Bombay High Court acquits GN Saibaba in Maoist link case

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday acquitted former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba and five other accused in an alleged Maoist links case. .A bench of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes set aside the verdict of a sessions court which had convicted Saibaba and others in 2017.The Court said that the accused can be released from prison upon deposit of ₹50,000 each as bail bonds till the Supreme Court decides State's appeal.Pertinently, the State did not ask for a stay on the judgment.The bench delivered the verdict after rehearing the appeal by Saibaba after an earlier bench of the High Court too had acquitted the disabled professor on October 14, 2022.The rehearing happened after the Supreme Court set aside the October 2022 acquittal order and remanded the matter back to the High Court for fresh hearing. .Saibaba (54), is wheelchair-bound and 99 percent disabled. He is presently lodged in Nagpur Central Jail. A sessions court in Gadchiroli had, in March 2017, convicted Saibaba and the others for alleged Maoist links and for indulging in activities amounting to waging war against the country.The sessions court had held that Saibaba and two other accused were in possession of naxal literature with the intent and purpose of circulation amongst underground naxlites at Gadchiroli and residents of the district with the aim to incite the people to resort to violence.Further, the sessions court had negated the submission that the absence of sanction to prosecute Saibaba was fatal to the case of the prosecution..Saibaba then moved the Bombay High Court against the sessions court order and the same was heard by a bench led by Justice Rohit B Deo.That bench had on October 14, 2022, a Friday, allowed the appeal and acquitted Saibaba.That appeal was allowed based on the fact that the sessions court framed charges against Saibaba in the absence of sanction from the Central government as per Section 45(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).The High Court had recorded that while terrorism poses an ominous threat to national security and every legitimate weapon in the armoury must be deployed against it, a civil democracy cannot sacrifice procedural safeguards afforded to the accused..The Maharashtra government immediately approached the Supreme Court against the same. The top court subsequently held a special sitting on October 15, 2022 (a Saturday) and suspended the High Court's decision.The order was passed by a bench of Justices MR Shah and Bela M Trivedi after the Maharashtra government contended that failure to grant sanction cannot lead to acquittal in view of Section 465 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.Subsequently, after a lengthy hearing, a bench of the top court comprising Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar on April 19, 2023, set aside the High Court acquittal judgment and remanded the matter to the High Court for fresh consideration.It then came to be heard by Justices Joshi and Menezes. Interestingly, Justice Rohit Deo of the High Court who had acquitted Saibaba, resigned as High Court judge on August 2, 2023.Senior advocate SP Dharmadhikari with advocate Nihalsingh Rathod appeared for GN Saibaba. Senior advocate Trideep Pais with advocates Pradeep Mandhyan, Barunkumar and HP Lingayat appeared for the remaining accused. Senior advocate Abad Ponda with advocates HS Chitale, Jugal Kanani, and PK Sathinathan appeared for Maharashtra government. .[Read order]