On Tuesday (5th March), the Bombay High Court acquitted former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba along with five others in the Maoist connection case. A panel consisting of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes overturned the conviction of a Gadchiroli (Nagpur) sessions court that convicted GN Saibaba and others in 2017.
The Bombay High Court panel announced the ruling after revisiting GN Saibaba’s appeal, after an earlier high court bench acquitted the crippled professor on October 14, 2022.
Prosecution failed to establish the case
The court stated that it was acquitting all of the defendants because the prosecution failed to establish the case beyond a reasonable doubt against them. It also declared the prosecution’s sanction to prosecute the accused as “null and void” under the harsh provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
“The entire prosecution is vitiated due to an illegal sanction to prosecute all of the defendants. The trial, which was held despite the breach of mandatory legal conditions, constitutes a failure of justice, according to the High Court.
The prosecution later verbally requested that the court postpone its ruling for six weeks so that it may launch an appeal in the Supreme Court. The bench, however, instructed it to submit an application for a stay. GN Saibaba, 54 years old, is wheelchair-bound and 99% handicapped.
Professor’s wife Vasantha on his acquittal
Vasantha told The Indian Express last year that, despite having been battling for justice since 2014, she believed in the country’s judiciary: “The truth has finally come out, and he has been acquitted.”
She also alleged that the family did not have full access to Saibaba’s health report throughout his stay in jail, and that one of his hands is entirely paralysed.
Vasantha stated, “I’m overjoyed to learn that Dr. G N Saibaba and others have been acquitted completely. After ten long years of effort, justice is served. I just hope there are no further impediments to his well-deserved release. Thank you to the attorneys who have worked relentlessly to ensure justice. Thank you to all human rights advocates and everyone who supported Saibaba.
She is preparing to travel to Nagpur with her daughter to bring her husband back home, whom she last saw in November 2023. “I’ll say what I told you last year. The first thing I’ll do is bring him home and take him to the hospital so he can get the proper care. “His health has deteriorated significantly in the last few years,” she stated in her interview.
