The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Tuesday acquitted former Delhi University (DU) professor GN Saibaba and five others in connection with an alleged Maoist links case.

A division bench of Justices Vinay G Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes, which pronounced the verdict on Tuesday, had concluded the hearing and reserved its judgment in September last year, following directions from the Supreme Court.

While pronouncing the verdict, the bench also set aside the life imprisonment imposed on the former DU professor, PTI reported.

The bench said it was acquitting all the accused as the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt against them. It also held as “null and void” the sanction procured by the prosecution to charge the accused under provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The appeals were filed by Saibaba, Mahesh Tirki, Hem Mishra, Pandu Narote and Prashant Rahi, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, and Vijay Tirki, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail by a special court in 2017.

Also Read: Former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba acquitted in Maoist links case

The men were arrested in 2013 by the Gadchiroli police in Maharashtra over allegations that they were members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and its frontal group Revolutionary Democratic Front.

While Vijay is out on bail, Narote passed away in jail in 2022 after he was infected with swine flu. The rest of the four convicts, including Saibaba, were ordered to be released from Nagpur Central jail, Indian Express reported.

On October 14, 2022, another bench of Justices Rohit Deo (who resigned last year) and Anil Pansare had set aside the convictions, ordering the release of all four men in the case. The bench had underlined the importance of following due process in legal proceedings, and ruled that in the absence of a valid sanction under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the proceedings before the sessions court were “null and void”.

On the next day, based on the state government’s plea seeking a stay on the high court verdict, a special sitting was held in the Supreme Court before the bench of Justices M R Shah (now retired) and Bela M Trivedi.

Also Read: Supreme Court overturns Bombay HC order discharging GN Saibaba in Maoists links case

The Supreme Court had on the same day suspended the Nagpur bench order stating that it is prima facie of the opinion that “a detailed scrutiny is required so far as the impugned judgment and order passed by the high court is concerned” and added that several important questions of law need to be considered.

Thereafter, in April 2023, the Supreme Court set aside the Bombay High Court order discharging Saibaba and others, and remanded the matter back to the high court to be decided afresh by a different bench. It had directed for the hearing to be concluded within four months. The appeal was then heard before the new bench, which on Thursday closed the case for judgment.

(With inputs from PTI)