By Ritika Jain
Bombay High Court Nagpur bench today acquitted former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba in the case where he was sentenced to life after being convicted for alleged Maoist links.
The high court directed the immediate release of the political activist who is 90 percent physically handicapped.
The bench also acquitted five others who were convicted in the same case and directed their immediate release as well unless they are accused in any other case. The five others acquitted in this case were Mahesh Tirki, Pandu Pora Narote, Hem Keshwdatta Mishra, Prashant Rahi and Vijay Nan Tirki. Narote died in August this year during the pendency of this appeal.
A division bench of Justices Rohit Deo and Anil Pansare judgment came on Saibaba's plea challenging the 2017 trial court order convicting him and sentencing him to life in prison. Saibaba, who has been wheelchair-bound since the age of five because of polio, is currently lodged at Nagpur's central prison.
Saibaba's wife Vasanta Kumari told The Indian Express, "He is an intellectual and a teacher. He was framed in the case. His health has deteriorated, and his limbs are not working properly because of spending seven years in jail. At present, my brother-in-law is in Nagpur to complete the formalities."
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What is the GN Saibaba case?
In March 2017, a sessions court in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district convicted GN Saibaba and five others for their alleged links to banned organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist) under the stringent provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The high court order acquitting him comes five years after he filed his appeal challenging the trial court order.
An English professor, Saibaba was arrested on May 9, 2014 for having Maoist links. Since his conviction from a lower court, the activist was lodged at Nagpur's central jail in the "anda" (solitary) cell.
