NEW DELHI: A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court in a special hearing suspended Bombay HC’s order of discharging former DU Professor SN Saibaba and co-accused in an alleged Maoist links case on Saturday.
An apex court bench of justices M R Shah and Bela M Trivedi, which sat on a non-working day to hear the matter, also rejected Saibaba's request for putting him under house arrest in view of his physical disability and health conditions.
It stayed the release of all the accused in the case, including Saibaba, from jail, as directed by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. The bench also took into consideration that the accused were convicted after a detailed appreciation of evidence and if the state succeeded on merits then the offences were very serious and against the interest of the society, sovereignty and integrity of India.
“We are of the firm opinion that the impugned judgement of the HC is required to be suspended. For reasons stated above, HC’s order is suspended till further orders,” the court said in its order.
Assailing HC’s order of declaring the entire trial as null and void for failing to follow procedural safeguards and taking cognisance of the charge sheet against Saibaba in 2014 without having the sanction to prosecute him under UAPA, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for the Maharashtra government said that sanction is important to ensure that the person is not put to vexatious trial.
“If a full trial takes place and verdict comes based on evidence, then there is no question of vexatious trial. This is not an order of acquittal but an order of discharge,” Mehta added.
It was also Mehta’s contention that Saibaba had not raised the issue of sanction before the trial court but before the HC at the appellate stage.
“Sanction is there but there is delayed sanction and there is an irregularity in the grant of sanction,” SG added.
With a view to convincing the bench to not stay the suspension of Saibaba’s sentence, Senior Advocate R Basant said that he is 90% disabled, paraplegic and is having multiple other ailments which are judicially accepted. He also added that is confined to his wheelchair, and does not have any criminal antecedents but might be ideologically inclined.
“Solicitor General says he was the brain, but there is nothing to show his involvement,” Basant further added. Basant also submitted that on the date of the cognisance and framing charge, there was no sanction to prosecute under UAPA.
“So far as terrorist or Maoist activities are concerned, the brain is more dangerous. Direct involvement is not necessary,” Justice Shah, the presiding judge of the bench remarked.
“We’re not finding fault with you but finding fault with HC’s judgment for not entering the merits of the case and for finding a shortcut to decide,” Justice Shah further added.
“He’s in a wheelchair and there are no helpers to help him answer the call of nature. Co-jailed persons are helping him and it's causing him stress,” Senior Counsel said. He also urged the bench to impose conditions on his bail and order house arrest.
On March 7, 2017, the Sessions Judge, Gadchiroli convicted former professor and other accused Mahesh Kariman Tirki, Hem Keshavdatta Mishra, Prashant Rahi Narayan, Pandu Narote and Vijay Tirki for offences under UAPA and criminal conspiracy.
The prosecution’s case against them was that they were active members of the banned terrorist organisation CPI (Maoist) and its formal organisation Revolutionary Democratic Front and were abetting and assisting hardcore underground cadre of CPI by providing information and material and facilitating the travel and relocation of members from one location to the other.
Hours after the Nagpur bench of the Bombay HC had acquitted the former professor and other accused on Friday, the Maharashtra government had approached SC but had failed to get a stay on acquittal.