SC halts Bombay High Court's order, GN Saibaba to stay in jail

HYDERABAD: The Supreme Court on Saturday overruled the Bombay High Court's decision to acquit GN Saibaba, a former professor at Delhi University who had received a life sentence for alleged Maoist links.

According to reports, a bench of Justices MR Shah and Bela M Trivedi heard the Maharashtra government's appeal against Saibaba's release on Friday.

Maharashtra government's Solicitor General Tushar Mehta pleaded with the Supreme Court to quash the Bombay High Court's ruling mandating Saibaba's immediate release from prison.

The former Delhi University professor, who had been given a life sentence in 2017, was asked to be released on Friday by the High Court's Nagpur division. A bench of Justices Rohit Deo and Anil Pansare had ruled that Saibaba had been accused by a session court in Gadchiroli of violating the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act without the Center's approval.

After being found guilty in 2017, the 55-year-old Saibaba, who is confined to a wheelchair, was detained in the Nagpur Central Jail. He was taken into custody in May 2014 after police alleged that he was likely to engage in anti-national activities. He was later granted conditional bail in April 2016.