New Delhi: Nineteen global organisations have written a joint letter to Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, urging him to review the Supreme Court’s decision to suspend the Bombay high court order acquitting professor G.N. Saibaba in an alleged ‘Maoist link’ case.
Among the organisations is Scholars at Risk, a US-based international network of academic institutions. The others are
- International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India
- Freedom Now
- Norwegian Students’ and Academics’
- International Assistance Fund
- Southern Illinois Democratic Socialists of America (USA)
- Hindus for Human Rights (USA)
- India Labor Solidarity (UK)
- Coalition for Justice in India (UK)
- Indian Workers Association (GB)
- South Asia Solidarity Group (UK)
- Turbine Bagh, London
- Stichting the London Story
- Anti-Caste Discrimination Alliance (UK)
- The Humanism Project (Australia)
- India Justice Project (Germany)
- Free Saibaba Coalition (US)
- Coalition Against Fascism in India
- Jericho Movement Boston
- India Civil Watch International
The statement was released on Monday, December 5.
The scholars have also asked the apex court to consider professor Saibaba’s serious health problems, which have been exacerbated by his long incarceration.
“Professor Saibaba suffers from 19 separate conditions, including post-polio syndrome, which inhibits the use of his legs, as well as life-threatening pancreatitis and impacted gallbladder stones, both of which require immediate surgery. Over the seven years of his imprisonment, he has been denied adequate medical care numerous times, including for two separate COVID-19 infections,” the statement read.
It read, “Absent any information that may clarify our understanding of these events, the facts as described suggest that professor Saibaba was subject to arrest, prosecution, and detention in retaliation for his nonviolent exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association – conduct that is expressly protected under international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a party.”
Saibaba, 52, who is wheelchair-bound due to a physical disability, is currently lodged in the Nagpur central prison. He was arrested in February 2014.
On October 14, the Bombay high court had acquitted six people, including Saibaba, in the ‘Maoist link’ case, saying that due process of law cannot be sacrificed at the altar of “perceived peril to national security”.
However, on the next day, the Supreme Court suspended this order, saying that the high court did not consider the merits of the case but acquitted them on technical grounds.
“This court is of prima facie opinion that a detailed scrutiny is required with regard to the impugned judgment since high court has not considered the merits of the case including the gravity of the offence alleged against him [Saibaba],” it had said.
What was the case?
In March 2017, a sessions court in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district convicted Saibaba and others, including a journalist and a Jawaharlal Nehru University student, for alleged Maoist links and for indulging in activities amounting to waging war against the country.
The prosecution had claimed that Saibaba was the secretary of the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF), an alleged frontal organisation of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). RDF is banned in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.
Saibaba was named as the prime accused in the case. Of the electronic devices seized from his residence in 2013, the state had claimed that as many as 247 pages were found to be “incriminating”. The police had further claimed that a memory card seized from Hem Mishra contained certain documents that “established” Saibaba’s deep involvement in the activities of the banned terrorist organisation.
The lower court’s conviction was based on the statements of 22 witnesses. Of them, only one was an independent witness; the rest were all police witnesses.
The court had held Saibaba and the others guilty under various provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Also read: Strange Case of G.N. Saibaba and the Supreme Court, Another New Abnormal
Read the full statement below.
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We, the undersigned organizations, write to express grave concern for the well being of Professor Gokarakonda Naga Saibaba, a professor and human rights activist serving life in prison in apparent retaliation for his nonviolent expressive activity. We respectfully urge you to review
Professor Saibaba’s case, reconsider the decision to suspend the Bombay High Court’s release order, and reinstate the high court’s order.
Professor Saibaba is an English professor at Delhi University who has engaged in human rights activism on behalf of vulnerable populations in India, including tribal groups who suffer from poverty and human rights violations. On May 9, 2014, police arrested Professor Saibaba as he
left the university campus. Following the arrest, police searched his home and later claimed to have found documents and correspondence proving his connections to the CPI (Maoist). On March 7, 2017, Professor Saibaba was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment under
India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on charges of “being a member of a terrorist gang or organization,” despite a lack of credible evidence linking him to the CPI (Maoist). Professor Saibaba has denied the charges. The UAPA is purportedly intended to prevent acts of terrorism and other national security threats; however, it frequently has been used to punish or suppress nonviolent acts of expression, association, and other human rights by scholars, human rights activists, and other dissidents.1 The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Professor Saibaba’s detention “resulted from the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of opinion and expression, as well as the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs.”
On October 14, 2022, the Bombay High Court ordered Professor Saibaba released based on a procedural lapse during his prosecution. The following day, however, the Supreme Court granted an appeal by the government of Maharashtra and suspended the ruling. Absent any information that may clarify our understanding of these events, the facts as described suggest that Professor Saibaba was subject to arrest, prosecution, and detention in retaliation for his nonviolent exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association—conduct that is expressly protected under international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a party.
In addition to the above concerns, we urge you to consider Professor Saibaba’s grave health problems, which have been exacerbated by his long incarceration. Professor Saibaba suffers from 19 separate conditions, including post–polio syndrome, which inhibits the use of his legs, as well as life–threatening pancreatitis and impacted gallbladder stones, both of which require immediate surgery. Over the seven years of his imprisonment, he has been denied adequate medical care numerous times, including for two separate Covid–19 infections. Just a few months ago, Pandu Narote, who was convicted alongside Professor Saibaba, died in prison after contracting swine flu and reportedly being denied medical attention. We are deeply concerned about Professor Saibaba’s health should he remain in prison and not receive appropriate care.
We therefore respectfully urge you to review Professor Saibaba’s case, reconsider the decision to suspend the Bombay High Court’s decision, and reinstate the high court’s order so Professor Saibaba may be released and finally receive the medical care he urgently needs.