The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday acquitted the conviction and life imprisonment of five people, including former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba, who were accused of having links with Maoists and engaging in anti-national activities. The court found that the police had failed to obtain the necessary approval from the state home department for their arrest and prosecution under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The division bench of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki Menezes declared that the trials conducted by the Gadchiroli Sessions Court in 2014 and 2015 were null and void, as they violated Section 45(1) of the UAPA, which requires prior sanction from the competent authority.
“We hold that the proceedings in sessions trials 30/2014 and 130/2015 are null and void in the absence of valid sanction under Section 45(1) of the UAPA,” the HC said.
The court ordered the release of the five accused - Mahesh Kariman Tirki, Hem Keshavdatta Mishra, Prashant Rahi Narayan Sanglikar, Vijay Tirki, and Saibaba - from all the charges. A sixth accused, Pandu Pora Narote, had died of swine flu during the trials. The court also directed the accused to furnish a bond of Rs 50,000 each with a surety of the same amount, as per Section 437-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
The Gadchiroli Sessions Court had sentenced the accused to life imprisonment on March 7, 2017, under Sections 13, 18, 20, 38, and 39 of the UAPA and Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, for allegedly aiding and abetting Naxal activities and waging war against the nation. The judgment was based solely on electronic evidence, which was a first in Maharashtra, and was widely reported by TOI from the Gadchiroli court the following day.
