Saibaba had been admitted to NIMS, Hyderabad, for gall bladder and pancreas-related ailments and had undergone surgery recently.
Published Oct 12, 2024 | 9:58 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 12, 2024 | 11:32 PM
Prof GN Saibaba (1967-2024)
Former professor of Delhi University GN Saibaba, acquitted after 10 years in jail in a case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, passed away at a private hospital in Hyderabad on Saturday, 12 October, evening.
A scholar, writer, and human rights activist, 58-year-old Saibaba had been admitted to NIMS, Hyderabad, for gall bladder and pancreas-related ailments and had undergone surgery recently.
The prolonged imprisonment — and the alleged torture in prison — had taken a toll on his health.
“Except for the polio that I’ve had since my childhood, I went to jail without any health issues. But today, I am in front of you though alive, each and every organ failing me,” he said after his 5 March 2024 release from the Nagpur Central Jail.
An assistant professor at Delhi University’s Ram Lal Anand College, Saibaba was arrested in May 2014, alleging Maoist links. The Bombay High Court granted him bail on medical grounds in June 2015, and he was released a month later. He was again jailed between December 2015 and April 2016, when the Supreme Court granted him bail.
The polio-affected man was convicted in March 2017 for connections with the banned Revolutionary Democratic Front, an outfit tied to the CPI(Maoist). During the trial, Saibaba denied having any links with the banned organisation. Besides Saibaba, Mahesh Tirki, Pandu Narote, Hem Mishra, Prashant Rahi, and Vijay Tirko were also convicted.
Saibaba’s incarceration also saw a Maoist-sponsored Bharat Bandh on 29 March 2017. In April 2020, a panel of experts from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights demanded his release on medical grounds. However, the demand was rejected.
During the trial at the Sessions Court at Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, the prosecution contended that the accused were working for the banned CPI (Maoist) group through front organizations such as RDF.
The prosecution relied on evidence, including seized pamphlets and electronic material deemed as anti-national. It was further alleged that Saibaba handed over a 16GB memory card intended for Maoists sheltering in the Abuzmad forest area.
In October 2022, the earlier bench of the Bombay High Court held the trial void due to the absence of a valid sanction under Section 45(1) of the UAPA. The court had underscored the importance of procedural compliance in cases involving terrorism and emphasized that departures from due process could foster an environment conducive to terrorism.
Within days, a Bench of the Supreme Court had set aside the Bombay High Court order, saying the offences involved are very serious in nature and the accused were convicted after detailed appreciation of evidence.
The SC Bench’s order noted: “High Court has not considered the merits. High Court has discharged the accused only on the grounds that sanction was invalid and some material placed before the appropriate authority and sanction was granted on the same day.”
The bench stressed that the high court should proceed without prejudice and solely on the case’s merits, without being influenced by its earlier order.
The Supreme Court clarified that it had not determined the case’s merits and emphasized the need for a thorough review by the high court.
Saibaba and five others were acquitted on 14 October 2022. However, the Supreme Court reversed the acquittal and asked the high court to reevaluate the case. Though the high court rapped the state for failure of justice, Maharashtra went to the apex court again when he was acquitted for a second time.
In March 2024, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court once again acquitted Saibaba and five others.
The Bench said the accused were being acquitted because the prosecution did not prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. The sanction the prosecution secured to charge the accused under the UAPA was deemed “null and void”.
While in jail, the human rights activist was denied permission to visit his mother, who died of cancer, aged 74. He could not even attend her funeral.
Born to a poor farmer’s family in 1967 at Amalapuram in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district, Saibaba was 80 percent physically handicapped. He had been using a wheelchair since the age of 5.
He did his post-graduation in English from the University of Hyderabad, and successfully pursued a PhD from Delhi University.
Saibaba was one of the organisers of the Mumbai Resistance 2003, organised parallel to the World Social Forum. A year later, he joined the RDF, which was banned by the Andhra Pradesh government in 2012.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
