DU Prof GN Saibaba finally acquitted after losing... 3,588 days

The Bombay High Courtrsquos Nagpur bench on Tuesday acquitted former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba and five others accused of having Maoist links Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki S A Menezes overturned a sessions courtrsquos 2017 convictionThe court stated that the accused could be released on bail bonds of Rs 50000 each The court also highlighted that the prosecution failed to substantiate their case against the accused and deemed the sanction under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act UAPA as null and void It also noted that the prosecution couldnt provide any incriminating evidence against the accused and the trial proceeded despite legal violationsThe court in its 293page order stated ldquoThe prosecution has failed to establish legal arrest and seizure from accused Nos 1 to 5 and failed to establish the seizure of incriminating material from the house search of accused No 6 Saibaba The prosecution has also failed to prove the electronic evidence in terms of the provisions of the Indian Evidence Act and the Information Technology ActrdquoAn old photo of from left G N Saibabarsquos mother Gokarakonda Suryavathi his wife Vasantha Kumari and himselfThe appeals were filed by Saibaba Mahesh Kariman Tirki Pandu Pora Narote Prashant Rahi and Hem Keshavdatta Mishra who were handed life imprisonment along with Vijay Tirki who received a 10year sentence by a special court in 2017 The accused were arrested between 2013 and 14 for having links with Maoists This decision came after a rehearing of Saibabarsquos appeal following a Supreme Court ruling that set aside his previous acquittal in October 2022 and sent the case back to the high court for a fresh hearingAlso Read Mumbai Police register FIR after Maharashtra Assembly speakers email account hackedWife reactsVasantha Kumari Saibabarsquos wife told midday ldquoWe are relieved that he has been acquitted revealing once again the shortcomings of the state machinery My husband was prosecuted for his social work and for exposing the governmentrsquos actions I spoke to him today Tuesday via a video call and he seemed very happy and relieved that he will soon be released I want to express my gratitude to all our lawyers and the judiciaryShe went on to say During the ten years of imprisonment we faced immense mental and financial challenges without any evidence against us My husband suffered from hypertension and some cardiac issues before but now he has 19 illnesses including paralysis in his left leg and 90 per cent paralysis in his right leg The government has continuously tried to suppress our fundamental rights and has previously challenged the high courtrsquos orders We hope the Supreme Court will not entertain their appeals this time Ten years have already passed and my husband has endured a great deal of sufferingrdquoBackground factsSaibaba a 54yearold wheelchairbound individual with a 90 per cent disability is currently incarcerated in Nagpur Central Jail The sessions court in Gadchiroli had convicted him and others in March 2017 for alleged Maoist connections and activities amounting to waging war against the country The court found Saibaba and two others in possession of Maoist literature with the intent to distribute it among underground Maoists in Gadchiroli and incite violence among the districtrsquos residentsDespite arguments about the lack of prosecution sanction the sessions court upheld the convictions Saibaba appealed this decision to the Bombay High Court which on October 14 2022 acquitted him based on the absence of prosecution sanction required under Section 451 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act UAPAProfessor G N SaibabaldquoVile and abhorrent acts of terror do evoke collective societal anger and anguish While the war against terror must be waged by the State with unwavering resolve and every legitimate weapon in the armoury must be deployed in the fight against terror a civil democratic society can ill afford sacrificing the procedural safeguards legislatively provided and which is an integral facet of the due process of law at the altar of perceived peril to national securityrdquo the 2022 HC order readsThe bench comprising Justice Rohit Deo and Justice Anil Pansare further said their order ldquoThe Siren Song that the end justifies the means and that the procedural safeguards are subservient to the overwhelming need to ensure that the accused is prosecuted and punished must be muzzled by the voice of Rule of Law Any aberration shall only be counterproductive since empirical evidence suggests that departure from the due process of law fosters an ecosystem in which terrorism burgeons and provides fodder to vested interests whose singular agenda is to propagate false narrativesrdquoHowever the Maharashtra government challenged this decision in the Supreme Court which suspended the high courts ruling on October 15 2022 The Supreme Court later set aside the high courtrsquos acquittal judgment on April 19 2023 and sent the case back to the high court for reconsiderationThe caseAccording to the prosecution Assistant Police Inspector API Atul Shantaram Awhadwho was then attached to the Special Branch Gadchiroli received secret information that accused Mahesh Tirki and accused Pandu Narote were active members of the banned terrorist organisation CPI Maoist and its frontal organisation Revolutionary Democratic Front RDF and were abetting and assisting the hardcore underground cadre of the CPI Maoist by providing information and material and facilitating the travel and relocation of the members from one location to the otherAPI Awhad and his squad were keeping accused Tirki and Narote under surveillance in the Maoistaffected areas of Etapalli Aheri and Murewada On August 22 2013 API Awhad and his squad were at the Aheri bus station in Gadchiroli They saw these two accused having a suspicious conversation with another accused a JNU student Hem Mishra The authorities approached the trio and asked some questions but as they allegedly gave evasive answers they were brought to the Aheri police stationDuring searches one RDF and three CPI Maoist pamphlets a purse containing Rs 60 a platform ticket of Ballarshah railway station dated May 28 2013 an identity card and a Micromax cell phone were seized from Tirki A Samsung cell phone purse containing Rs 1480 platform ticket of Delhi railway station dated May 28 2013 PAN card and identity card were seized from Narote While searching Mishra the police seized a 16 GB Sandisk memory card wrapped in paper a purse containing Rs 7700 a DelhiBallarshah railway ticket dated August 19 2013 a camera and charger a PAN card an identity card and a cloth bag The trio were then arrested and a case was registered under various sections of the UAPA and Indian Penal CodeDuring Mishrarsquos interrogation it was claimed that Saibaba an alleged member of CPI Maoist and RDF had handed over a memory card wrapped in paper to Mishra with instructions to deliver the same to Narmadakka Saibaba was also placed under arrest on May 9 2014 and during the investigation the police also arrested Prashant Rahi and Vijay Tirki On August 1 2020 the professorrsquos mother Gokarakonda Suryavathi died without fulfilling her final wish of seeing him one last time as he was denied bailApplication deniedThe Bombay High Court has dismissed the state of Maharashtrarsquos application to stay the judgment acquitting Saibaba and five others The state sought a sixweek stay soon after the acquittal to move the Supreme Court and due to the potential serious repercussions of implementing the judgment in the meantime19No of illnesses Saibaba is dealing with according to wifeMay 9 2014The day Prof G N Saibaba was arrested from his Delhi homeAugust 1 2020Day Saibabarsquos mother died without fulfilling her final wish of seeing him one last time as he was denied bailOctober 14 2022Day the Bombay High Court acquitted him the first timeApril 19 2023Day the Supreme Court overturned his acquittal extending his incarceration