New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (April 19) set aside the Bombay high court order discharging former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba in a Maoists links case.
A bench of Justices M.R. Shah and C.T. Ravikumar remanded the matter to the high court for fresh consideration, Bar and Bench reported. The judges said that a different bench of the high court should hear the matter now, since the earlier bench had made its opinion clear.
“In view of the consensus between the parties and without entering into the merits of the case, with the consent of the counsel of the respective parties, we set aside the impugned common judgement and order passed by the Bombay High Court. The matters are remitted back to the high court to decide the said appeals afresh in accordance with law and on its own merits, including the question of sanction,” the bench said, according to LiveLaw.
“It will be open for the State to argue that sanction need not be considered once accused is convicted in such a case…We request the High Court to dispose of the appeals expeditiously, preferably within four months. It is also observed that propriety demands that on appeal, the matter be placed before another bench than that which passed impugned order,” the apex court ordered.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by the Maharashtra government challenging the high court’s decision to allow appeals against the conviction and life sentence imposed on Saibaba and five others under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
Also read: The ‘Radical Optimism’ in G.N. Saibaba’s Poetry
In October last year, the Bombay high court had discharged the six from the Maoist links case, thereby allowing them to appeal their conviction and life sentence.
The high court said that due process of law cannot be sacrificed at the altar of “perceived peril to national security”. The bench then directed the convicts to be released forthwith from jail unless they are accused in any other case.
However, before they could be released, the Supreme Court held a special sitting on a Saturday and suspended the Bombay high court order. “We are of the opinion that it is a fit case to exercise power under 390 of Code of Criminal Procedure and suspend the order of the high court… the medical grounds of the accused was presented and rejected by the high court during a bail plea earlier. Thus, high court order stands suspended. Issue notice,” a bench of Justices M.R. Shah and Bela M. Trivedi said then.
The Supreme Court’s decision to hold a special sitting and suspend the Bombay high court’s decision had been criticised by rights activists and legal experts, including former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan Lokur.
Saibaba, who is wheelchair-bound with over 90% physical disability, has alleged medical negligence several times during his incarceration. One of his co-accused, Pandu Pora Narote, died in August last year after contracting swine flu in jail. His lawyer claimed that medical care was not provided in time, leading to his condition worsening.