It is only by chance that he could come out alive despite suffering the “brutal” jail life, said former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba after he was released from Nagpur Central Jail on Thursday.
The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on March 5 set aside his life sentence in a Maoist links case, citing the failure of the prosecution to prove charges beyond reasonable doubt and deeming the sanction for prosecution under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as “null and void”, and a lack of application of mind by the State authority.
Prof. Saibaba, who had been lodged in jail since 2017, after a trial court in Gadchiroli convicted him and others in the case, expressed concern about his health and the need for medical treatment upon his release.
In poor health
“My health is very bad. I can’t talk. I will have to first take medical treatment, and then only I will able to speak,” he said after coming out of the prison. A family member awaited Prof. Saibaba outside the jail premises. The professor said he would be visiting doctors soon.
Editorial | Free of guilt: On the exoneration of former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba and five others
The 57-year-old wheelchair-bound English professor earlier refused to speak to the media about his eight years of incarceration. However, he said he changed his mind after requests from lawyers and media personnel.
Describing his prison life as “very rigorous and brutal”, he said: “There was every chance that I would not have come out alive. I had no accessibility inside the prison.”
He asked who would bring them back the 10 years of life spent in jail.
“I couldn’t pull up, I could not move out of my wheelchair. I could not go to the toilet [on my own], and I could not take a bath. It’s a wonder that I came out of the prison alive today,” the former DU professor said, adding that the cases against him were a fabricated one.
‘Without facts’
Not once but twice, the higher judiciary confirmed that the case was without facts, evidence and any legally viable matter, Prof. Saibaba said.
A Division Bench of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki S.A. Menezes said that the report submitted by the independent authority recommending invocation of UAPA provisions in the case was “cryptic and a laconic half-page communication”.
Soon, the Maharashtra government approached the Supreme Court seeking an urgent hearing after it failed to convince the High Court to stay the implementation of the judgment.
Prof. Saibaba had previously served time from 2014 to 2016 before being granted bail in a case for his suspected links with the Maoist rebels. He was arrested by the police of Maharashtra and erstwhile combined Andhra Pradesh, and the Intelligence Bureau, while he was on his way home from Delhi University.
The Bench also underscored that the seized pamphlets and electronic data from the suspects only indicated their sympathy towards the outlawed Maoist philosophy.
