The Bombay High Court on Friday acquitted former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba in an alleged Maoist links case, and ordered his immediate release from the jail, news agency PTI reported. Five other accused have also been acquitted. One of the five died pending hearing of the appeal.
A division bench of Justice Rohit Deo and Anil Pansare allowed the appeal filed by the former professor challenging a 2017 order of the trial court which had convicted and sentenced him to life imprisonment, reported The Indian Express.
Also Read: Maoist links: DU professor GN Saibaba, JNU student and three others get life imprisonment
The 55-year-old Saibaba, who is wheelchair-bound due to a physical disability, is lodged at the Nagpur Central Prison.
The bench also directed other five convicts to be released from jail unless they are accused in some other case.
Also Read: Amit Shah should have spoken about undeclared emergency in India : Tejashwi Yadav
In March 2017, a sessions court in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra convicted Saibaba and others, including a journalist and a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student, for alleged Maoist links and for indulging in activities amounting to waging war against the country, as per PTI. The court had found them guilty under several provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Several activists, politicians, and intellectuals were demanding the release of the ex-professor.