EX-DU PROF. SAIBABA GETS LIFE
Vijay, 6th accused, gets milder penalty, while others get lifer
In a landmark judgement, a local court in Gadchiroli on Tuesday sentenced former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba and four others to life imprisonment for links with the Maoists. A sixth accused was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.
In the sedition case slapped against him, Saibaba, who is 90 per cent disabled and bound to a wheelchair, is charged for being a member of a banned antinational Maoist organisations.
Saibaba was arrested in May 2014 by the Gadchiroli police, which recovered a lot of incriminating data from his hard disk.
In a landmark judgement, a local court in Gadchiroli on Tuesday sentenced former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba and four others to life imprisonment for links with the Maoists. A sixth accused was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.
Saibaba was found guilty of offences punishable under Sections 13, 18, 20, 38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (Amendment 2008).
Principal Gadchiroli district sessions judge Suryakant Shinde announced the verdict in a packed courtroom. Other accused Hem Mishra, Prashant Rahi, Mahesh Tirke and Pandu Narote were also found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The sixth accused, Vijay Tirke, who was described as a first-timer, was however given a milder punishment of 10 years RI.
Noted lawyer Prashant Sathinatahan who was special public prosecutor, expressed satisfaction over the verdict.
He told this newspaper from Gadchiroli where he was personally present in the court, that all the accused deserved life sentence. “This is a historic judgement,” Mr Sathianathan added.
The prosecution had examined 23 witnesses including two then Maharashtra home secretaries, Amitav Ranjan and K.P. Bakshi, who had accorded sanction to prosecute Saibaba under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (Amendment 2008) Act.
Mr Sathianathan, who led the prosecution legal team, said they presented glaring evidence and concrete facts before the sessions court. “We had rocksolid evidence against him and his role in anti-national Naxal activities,” he stated.
Commenting on the verdict, Gadchiroli superintendent of police Abhinav Deshmukh said it is a “Legal strike on white-collar naxalism”.
Saibaba had applied for bail, but the high court here had rejected his plea on all counts, particularly the health ground cited by Saibaba and his supporters citing medical reports, which clearly stated that proper medical aid was extended to him from super specialty hospital doctors when he was lodged in Central Prison in Nagpur.
The High Court earlier had also rejected the argument of Saibaba about there being very weak evidence against him.