The Nagpur bench
of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday acquitted former Delhi University professor
G N Saibaba in an alleged Maoist links case, noting the prosecution failed to
prove the case against him.
The court also
set aside the life sentence imposed on 54-year-old Saibaba.
A division bench
of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes also acquitted five others
accused in the case.
"The
prosecution has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the case against the
accused persons," the HC said.
It also held as
"null and void" the sanction procured by the prosecution to charge
the accused under provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act (UAPA).
"The
prosecution has failed to establish any legal seizure or any incriminating
material against the accused," the HC said.
"The trial
court judgment is not sustainable in the hands of law. We therefore allow the
appeals and set aside the impugned judgment. All the accused stand
acquitted," the bench said.
The court noted
that the sanction procured to prosecute the accused under the UAPA was not
legal and proper and hence, the sanction was "null and void".
"The entire
prosecution is vitiated on account of invalid sanction to prosecute all the
accused. The trial held despite the violation of mandatory provisions of law
itself amounts to failure of justice," the HC said.
The prosecution
later orally made a request to the court to stay its order for six weeks so
that it could file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
The bench,
however, directed it to file an application seeking stay.
Saibaba, who is
wheelchair-bound due to physical disability, is lodged in the Nagpur Central
Jail since his arrest in the case in 2014.
In March 2017, a
sessions court in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district convicted Saibaba and five
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 trial court
had held Saibaba and others guilty under various provisions of the UAPA and the
Indian Penal Code.
On October 14,
2022, another bench of the HC acquitted Saibaba, noting the trial proceedings
were "null and void" in the absence of a valid sanction under the
UAPA.
The Maharashtra
government on the same day approached the Supreme Court challenging the
decision.
The apex court
initially stayed the order and later in April 2023, set aside the HC order and
directed it to hear the appeal filed by Saibaba afresh.
The earlier HC
bench comprising Justices Rohit Deo and Anil Pansare, in its October 2022
judgment, said the sanction to prosecute under the UAPA was granted in 2014
against the five accused, who were arrested first, and then against Saibaba in
2015.
The bench had
noted that in 2014, when the trial court took cognisance of the chargesheet
filed by the prosecution, there was no sanction to prosecute Saibaba under the
UAPA.
Justice Deo, who
was due to retire in December 2025, tendered his resignation on August 4, 2023,
citing personal reasons.