Supreme Court refuses to stay acquittal of GN Saibaba, five others, says HC Judgment well-reasoned

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the judgment of the Bombay High Court, which acquitted Professor GN Saibaba and five others in a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 over alleged Maoist links.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta, while hearing the special leave petition filed by the State of Maharashtra, made a prima facie observation that the judgment of the high court was "very well-reasoned".

On March 5, a division bench comprising Justice Vinay G. Joshi and Justice Valimiki S. Menezes acquitted Saibaba, along with journalist Prashant Rahi, Mahesh Tikri, Hem Keshwdatta Mishra, and Vijay Nan Tikri of all charges. A sixth person, Pandu Ranote died while in jail due to lack of treatment.

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After the Bombay High Court acquitted the former Delhi University professor, he was released from the Nagpur Central Jail on March 7. The High Court set aside the life sentence after it observed that the prosecution had failed to prove its case.

Gorakonda Naga Saibaba (54) was teaching English at Ram Lal Anand College before his arrest in 2014. He was arrested for allegedly having links with the Maoists. He was given bail once based on his health conditions, but he had to return to jail. In 2016, the Supreme Court released him on bail.

But again in 2017, a trial court in Gadchiroli convicted him under the UAPA Act for allegedly having links with the Revolutionary Democratic Front and the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist). Saibaba countered the verdict in several courts. He was acquitted by the Bombay High Court in 2022 and the acquittal was stayed by the Supreme Court. Now, on March 5, 2024, the Bombay High Court acquitted him and said that the evidence provided by the prosecution was ‘unreliable’.