GN Saibaba, 5 Others Acquitted By Bombay High Court In Alleged Maoist Links Case

GN Saibaba, Hem Mishra, Mahesh Tirkey, Vijay Tirkey, Narayan Sanglikar, Prashant Rahi and Pandu Narote (deceased) were acquitted by the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court in the case.

The verdict was delivered by a bench of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes who heard the appeal by Saibaba after the Supreme Court set aside an earlier acquittal order of the High Court

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The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday acquitted former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba and five other accused in an alleged Maoist links case.

 

GN Saibaba, Hem Mishra, Mahesh Tirkey, Vijay Tirkey, Narayan Sanglikar, Prashant Rahi and Pandu Narote (deceased) were acquitted by the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court in the case, ANI reported.

GN Saibaba, Hem Mishra, Mahesh Tirkey, Vijay Tirkey, Narayan Sanglikar, Prashant Rahi and Pandu Narote (deceased) acquitted by the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court in a Maoist link case

The judgment was delivered by a bench of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes who…

— ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2024

 

The verdict was delivered by a bench of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes who heard the appeal by Saibaba after the Supreme Court set aside an earlier acquittal order of the High Court.

 

 

In 2014, GN Saibaba along with other co-accused were arrested on charges of having links with Maoist organisations and waging war against India. They were accused of working for the banned CPI (Maoist) group through front organisations like RDF.

 

Evidence including seized pamphlets and electronic material deemed as anti-national was allegedly seized. Saibaba allegedly handed over a 16GB memory card for Naxalites sheltering in the Abuzmad forest area.

In 2022, the Bombay HC had set aside the conviction by trial court on procedural grounds citing absence of a valid sanction under section 45(1) of the UAPA.

Following which the Supreme Court conducted a special Saturday sitting and stayed the High Court order the very next day after an urgent mention by the Maharashtra Government.

The Supreme Court eventually overturned this decision of granting acquittal and directed the Bombay High Court to reevaluate the case again.