New Delhi: Over 30 rights organisations came together under the banner ‘Campaign against State Repression’ (CASR) in Delhi on Monday, December 5, to demand unconditional acquittal for professor G.N. Saibaba and others, who have been in jail for years for their alleged links with the outlawed Maoists.
The acquittal of Saibaba and four others in the Maoists-links case by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court was overturned by the Supreme Court within 24 hours, on October 15. A division bench of justices M.R. Shah and Bela M Trivedi at the apex court, which heard a special plea by the Union government against the acquittal orders, overturned the earlier verdict, delivered on October 14.
Speaking at the joint press conference organised by rights bodies on Monday, December 5, Saibaba’s partner, Vasantha Kumari, recounted what she had gone through on October 14-15, and how their joy after the acquittal was short-lived.
“As we found out about the acquittal, we were all very happy. I got calls from around the world that finally Sai and others with Sai will be out. The advocates told us to come down to Nagpur because Sai would be free. He had distributed all his belongings to the jail except his books and legal papers. We were all waiting. At this point, a special bench sat especially to ensure a stay on his release. Everyone is equal before the law then why Sai, Hem Mishra, Prashant Rahi and other tribals are being denied bail and parole? Without any crime and without any evidence, they have been given life imprisonment.”
Vasantha said that it must dawn on the authorities concerned to release Saibaba immediately since his health is rapidly deteriorating. “I met Sai after the stay on his acquittal. He is suffering, from spasms and cramps and breathlessness. He has been put in the Anda cell. The cell is not covered from the top, as it is a torture cell from the time of British rule in India. The British put those who fought for freedom in that cell. Sai is battling life and death. He wrote a letter two days ago saying that he is having a lot of problems. However, no doctor is speaking openly. He is in unbearable pain. Despite his medical condition, his bail plea has been rejected. This is extremely unfortunate when rapists and murderers are out freely.”
Alongside Saibaba in the case, the police also arrested Jawaharlal Nehru University student Hem Mishra, two tribal youths Vijay Tirki and Pandu Narote, journalist Prashant Rahi and Mahesh Tirki in the case.
Narote (33), convicted under UAPA charges alongside Saibaba, died in police custody in August this year. Narote’s lawyers alleged that the prison authorities did not provide medical care in time. He was moved to the hospital only after his condition deteriorated badly, they said.
Speaking at the event, K.D. Mishra, Hem Mishra’s father said, “When they wanted to stay the acquittal solicitor general Tushar Mehta was sent in to stop the acquittal despite an off on Saturday. This was done to target someone’s fundamental right to freedom, to stop them this bench was created. This happens in the rarest of the rare cases.”
The organisers of the event alleged a violent attack by the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s student unit, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
Speaking to The Wire, Communist Party of India general secretary D. Raja said, “It is ruthless and insensitive on the part of the government to keep them in prison.”
