Saibaba to remain in jail: SC stays release of ex-DU prof, 5 others in Naxal links case

New Delhi [India], October 15 (ANI): Supreme Court on Saturday stayed the release of former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba and five others in an alleged Naxal links case.
In a special hearing today, Supreme Court suspended the October 14 order of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court which discharged former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba and others in an alleged Maoist links case.
The Maharashtra government on Friday approached the Supreme Court challenging the decision.
Supreme Court issued notice to the accused in the case on the Maharashtra government’s plea challenging the High Court order. The apex court has listed the matter for hearing on December 8.
A bench of Justices MR Shah and Bela M Trivedi heard the case today.
On Friday, the High Court allowed an appeal filed by Saibaba and five others challenging a 2017 decision of the trial court convicting and sentencing him to life imprisonment under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). They were arrested in 2014.
The High Court ordered the immediate release of Saibaba and the other accused.
They were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Sessions Court at Gadchiroli, Maharashtra in March 2017 for offences under various sections of Unlawful Prevention of Atrocities Act (UAPA), and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code for alleged association with the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF), which was alleged to be an affiliate of outlawed Maoist organisation.
The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Friday acquitted the alleged Naxal ideologue and former Delhi University’s Professor GN Saibaba and his five accomplices of the charges of having links with banned extremist outfits.
The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court on July 28, 2020 rejected the bail application of the former Delhi University Professor on medical grounds.
On May 22, 2020, the Bombay High Court dismissed Saibaba’s parole application, which sought to be released on the grounds of his ill health and to visit his mother, who was suffering from cancer in Hyderabad and passed away in August that same year. (ANI)