Bombay HC acquits former DU professor GN Saibaba in alleged Maoist links case

New Delhi: Bombay High Court has acquitted former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba in the alleged Maoist links case and allowed his appeal against conviction and life sentence.

GN Saibaba, who is wheelchair-bound due to a physical disability, is currently lodged at the Nagpur central prison.

A division bench of Justice Rohit Deo and Anil Pansare allowed the appeal filed by Saibaba challenging a 2017 order of the trial court convicting him and sentencing him to life imprisonment.

“Due process of law cannot be sacrificed at the altar of perceived peril to national security,” said the court.

The bench also allowed the appeal of five other convicts in the case and acquitted them. One of the five died pending hearing of the appeal.

The bench directed for the convicts to be released forthwith from jail unless they are accused in any other case.

In March 2017, a sessions court in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district had convicted Saibaba and 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 court had held Saibaba and the others guilty under various provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

(With inputs from agencies)

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