SC rejects Maha govt's plea seeking stay on acquittal of ex-DU prof G N Saibaba in Maoist links case
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a Maharashtra government application seeking a stay on a Bombay High Court order that acquitted former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba and others in the Maoist links case.
A bench of justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta admitted the state government's appeal, even as it observed that the high court order was "prima facie well reasoned".
The bench also rejected the oral request of Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Maharashtra government for early listing of the appeal and said it will come in due course.
"There cannot be any urgency in the order of reversal of conviction. Had it been the other way around, we would have considered," the bench told Raju.
Justice Mehta said it is a hard-earned acquittal and in normal course, this court should have dismissed this appeal.
On March 5, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court acquitted Saibaba, 54, and others, noting that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the case against him.
The HC had also set aside Saibaba's life sentence and acquitted five other accused in the case.
It held as "null and void" the sanction procured by the prosecution to charge the accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
"The prosecution has failed to establish any legal seizure or any incriminating material against the accused," the HC had said.
Saibaba, who is wheelchair-bound, was lodged in Nagpur Central Jail since his arrest in the case in 2014.
In March 2017, a sessions court in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district had convicted Saibaba and five others, including a journalist and a Jawaharlal Nehru University student, for alleged links with the banned CPI (Maoist) and for indulging in activities amounting to waging war against the country.
The trial court had held Saibaba and others guilty under various provisions of the UAPA and the Indian Penal Code.
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Kejriwal resorting to 'vendetta politics', says BJP after MP Sandeep Pathak booked
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Saturday accused Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of vendetta politics after Punjab Police booked Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, who recently defected to the BJP.
In an X post, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Kejriwal is misusing the Punjab Police to settle political scores, and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has become a party to it.
"Two FIRs have been filed against Sandeep Pathak, who until recently was in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary (organisation). What is baffling is the shameless, brazen vendetta politics being pursued by Arvind Kejriwal, with Bhagwant Mann complicit in it," Poonawalla said.
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"It is clear this has been done out of vendetta politics by Kejriwal, who is extremely vengeful and vindictive, and misuses the Punjab Police to pursue such political vendetta," he alleged.
Questioning the timing of the FIRs, Poonawalla said, "If these cases existed from the beginning, why were FIRs not filed earlier? If he was corrupt, why was he kept in the party for so long, especially when he was the general secretary (organisation)? Has any new material surfaced in the last few days, or has the alleged corruption occurred only now?"
He alleged that Kejriwal has an "old habit" of targeting political opponents and dissenters.
"We have seen how he has used the police against rivals, including Congress leaders. This is his old habit," Poonawalla said, referring to the withdrawal of Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh's security.
Poonawalla claimed that several leaders who had left AAP over the years, including Yogendra Yadav, Mayank Gandhi, Ashish Khetan, Ashutosh and Alka Lamba, were "hounded".
He accused the party of failing to introspect.
"Instead of introspecting on how they have changed -- from Anna to Lalu, from Lokpal to corruption -- they are indulging in vendetta politics, trying to victimise people using the strong arm of the law. This reflects an Emergency-like mindset and a dictatorial, Hitlerian mindset," he said.
According to sources, two FIRs have been lodged against Pathak under non-bailable sections.
No further details about the FIRs have been disclosed yet.
On April 24, the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs quit, alleging that Arvind Kejriwal's party has strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
Of the seven MPs -- who were Pathak, Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- six were from Punjab.
Later, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan officially accepted their merger with the BJP, reducing AAP's strength in the Upper House to three.
