Nagpur: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to suspend the Bombay High Court order acquitting former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba and others in a case. Maoist link case,
The apex court on Saturday rejected the request to release Saibaba from jail and put him under house arrest due to his disability and health conditions, as the Maharashtra government opposed the prayer, saying that nowadays, “urban naxals” is a new trend. Seeking house arrest, the High Court had acquitted Saibaba and others in the case on Friday.
Speaking to reporters at Nagpur airport, Fadnavis said, “I am satisfied with the apex court’s decision to suspend the High Court order on Professor GN Saibaba. Yesterday, I had said that the High Court’s decision was surprising and shocking to us. It was wrong, because releasing a person on technical grounds, against whom there was sufficient evidence to directly help the Maoists, was wrong. Hence, we approached the Supreme Court yesterday itself.”
The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former chief minister said he was grateful to the top court for forming a bench on Friday and suspended the high court’s order.
“We will fight the legal battle further,” he said, adding that the Supreme Court’s decision will bring relief to the families of policemen who were martyred in the Naxal attacks.
More than eight years after his arrest, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday acquitted Saibaba in the Maoist links case for lack of valid sanction for prosecution under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Had given. The HC also allowed the appeals filed by the five other convicts, acquitting them of all charges.
Following the HC order, the prosecution had moved the apex court against the acquittal.
Saibaba, 52, has been lodged in Nagpur Central Jail since his arrest in May 2014.
The apex court on Saturday rejected the request to release Saibaba from jail and put him under house arrest due to his disability and health conditions, as the Maharashtra government opposed the prayer, saying that nowadays, “urban naxals” is a new trend. Seeking house arrest, the High Court had acquitted Saibaba and others in the case on Friday.
Speaking to reporters at Nagpur airport, Fadnavis said, “I am satisfied with the apex court’s decision to suspend the High Court order on Professor GN Saibaba. Yesterday, I had said that the High Court’s decision was surprising and shocking to us. It was wrong, because releasing a person on technical grounds, against whom there was sufficient evidence to directly help the Maoists, was wrong. Hence, we approached the Supreme Court yesterday itself.”
The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former chief minister said he was grateful to the top court for forming a bench on Friday and suspended the high court’s order.
“We will fight the legal battle further,” he said, adding that the Supreme Court’s decision will bring relief to the families of policemen who were martyred in the Naxal attacks.
More than eight years after his arrest, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday acquitted Saibaba in the Maoist links case for lack of valid sanction for prosecution under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Had given. The HC also allowed the appeals filed by the five other convicts, acquitting them of all charges.
Following the HC order, the prosecution had moved the apex court against the acquittal.
Saibaba, 52, has been lodged in Nagpur Central Jail since his arrest in May 2014.