Former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba was sentenced to life imprisonment along with five others for his alleged links with Maoists under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Gadchiroli court in Maharashtra sentences them to life term.
Along with Saibaba, Jawaharlal Nehru University student Hem Mishra, former journalist Prashant Rahi and three others were also convicted.
The court found Saibaba and five others guilty of “waging a war against India”.
All five men were sentenced under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The Gadchiroli court, which was hearing the case, found them guilty of knowingly facilitating the commission of a terrorist act, being a member of a terrorist organisation, and supporting the activities of a terrorist organisation.
His lawyers say they will appeal against this decision at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court.
Calling the judgment shocking, Vasanta, the wife of Professor Saibaba, said, “It seems the state and Central governments have put a lot of pressure on the judiciary to implement anti-people and undemocratic policies at the behest of corporates and MNCs.”
The government, she said in a statement, has been putting “relentless pressure on my family for the last four years” by raiding their house in Delhi. “As a wife I will fight in the higher courts to seek justice,” she added.
Professor Saibaba had approached the Supreme Court after the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court cancelled his bail, and he was sent back to the Nagpur Central jail on December 2015.