Saibaba acquitted in Maoist links case after 8 years in jail, SC to hear Maha's challenge against acquittal on Saturday
15-Oct-2022
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.jpg "Saibaba acquitted in Maoist links case after 8 years in jail, SC to hear Maha's challenge against acquittal on Saturday")
Mumbai/New Delhi,(PTI) More than eight years after his arrest, the Bombay High Court on Friday acquitted former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba in an alleged Maoist links case for want of valid sanction for prosecution under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA.
Following the HC order, the prosecution moved the Supreme Court against the acquittal. The SC, however, rejected its request for immediate stay to the order. The apex court later agreed to hear on Saturday Maharashtra's plea for a stay on the Bombay High Court order acquitting Saibaba, after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's persistent pitch that the acquittal was not on merit but for want of appropriate sanction to prosecute him under the UAPA.
Setting aside the life imprisonment awarded to Saibaba by the trial court, the high court noted that while the fight against terrorism was important, procedural safeguards can not be sacrificed "at the altar of perceived peril to national security." The human rights activist's release will now depend on the developments in the Supreme court.
