The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday acquitted former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, who was arrested for suspected Maoist links, and other co-accused in the case and allowed their appeals against convictions.
A division bench of Justices Vinay G Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes, which pronounced the verdict on Tuesday, had concluded the hearing and reserved its judgment in September last year, following directions from the Supreme Court.
The bench held that prosecution failed to prove the case against the accused and held the sanction under UAPA was null and void and entire prosecution was vitiated on account of invalid sanction to prosecute accused persons. The Court also noted that the trial that was held despite violation of mandatory provisions of law amounted to failure of justice. It further pointed out that the prosecution failed to establish legal seizure of material and could not prove any incriminating material against the accused. Therefore, the bench set aside the trial court judgement convicting the accused persons ‘being unsustainable in the hands of law’ and allowed the appeals against the same and acquitted accused.
The appeals were filed by Saibaba, Mahesh Tirki, Hem Mishra, Pandu Narote and Prashant Rahi, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, and Vijay Tirki, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail by a special court in 2017. The men were arrested in 2013 by the Gadchiroli police in Maharashtra over allegations that they were members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and its frontal group Revolutionary Democratic Front.
While Vijay is out on bail, Narote passed away in jail in 2022 after he was infected with swine flu. The rest of the four convicts, including Saibaba, were ordered to be released from Nagpur Central jail.
On October 14, 2022, another bench of Justices Rohit Deo (who resigned last year) and Anil Pansare had set aside the convictions, ordering the release of all four men in the case. The bench had underlined the importance of following due process in legal proceedings, and ruled that in the absence of a valid sanction under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the proceedings before the sessions court were “null and void”.
While Vijay was out on bail, Narote died in jail in 2022 after he was infected with swine flu.
The rest of the four convicts, including Saibaba, were ordered to be released from Nagpur Central jail.
On the next day, based on the state government’s plea seeking a stay on the high court verdict, a special sitting was held in the Supreme Court before the bench of Justices M R Shah (now retired) and Bela M Trivedi.
The Supreme Court had on the same day suspended the Nagpur bench order stating that it is prima facie of the opinion that “a detailed scrutiny is required so far as the impugned judgment and order passed by the high court is concerned” and added that several important questions of law need to be considered.
Thereafter, in April 2023, the Supreme Court set aside the Bombay High Court order discharging Saibaba and others, and remanded the matter back to the high court to be decided afresh by a different bench. It had directed for the hearing to be concluded within four months. The appeal was then heard before the new bench, which on Thursday closed the case for judgment.
In August last year, citing personal reasons, the judge of the previous bench, Justice Rohit Deo, resigned.