Maharashtra moves Supreme Court against Bombay High Court acquittal of GN Saibaba

Hours after the Bombay High Court acquitted former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba and five other accused in an alleged Maoist links case, the Maharashtra government has approached the Supreme Court against the decision. .The order of acquittal was passed by the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court on Tuesday morning. .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 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.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..The Maharashtra government immediately approached the Supreme Court against the same.Justices MR Shah and Bela M Trivedi subsequently held a special sitting on October 15, 2022 (a Saturday) and suspended the High Court's decision.The order was passed by the bench of 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. This bench too acquitted Saibaba leading to the present appeal before the apex court.