LI Network
Published on: 19 April 2023 at 14:03 IST
The Supreme Court has overturned the Bombay High Court’s decision to acquit former Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba in a case involving alleged Maoist links.
The case has been sent back to the high court for a fresh consideration on the merits within four months.
The Supreme Court has directed the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court to assign a different bench than the one that had previously discharged the accused, and to keep the question of law, including the sanction under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, open for adjudication by the high court.
The top court had earlier suspended the Bombay High Court’s order on October 15. Advocate Abhikalp Pratap Singh represented the Maharashtra government, while senior advocate R Basant represented Saibaba in the Supreme Court.
The Bombay High Court had acquitted Saibaba and ordered his release from jail on October 14 last year, more than eight years after his arrest in 2014, on the grounds that the sanction order issued to prosecute the accused under the UAPA was “bad in law and invalid.”