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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Mohsin's fifer helps LSG restrict KKR to 155/7 despite Rinku's 83
Lucknow (PTI): Lucknow Super Giants pacer Mohsin Khan added another sordid chapter to Kolkata Knight Riders' batting woes, taking five wickets to restrict the three-time champions to a modest 155 for seven in their IPL match here on Sunday.
Mohsin’s 5 for 23, a personal best for the left-arm pacer in this format, tore apart an already struggling KKR batting unit, as he snaffled the cream wickets of Ajinkya Rahane, Tim Seifert, Cameron Green, Rovman Powell and Anukul Roy.
Rinku Singh (83 not out, 51 balls) made a well-paced fifty and punished Mohammed Shami in the 19th over for 6, 4, 4 and the smoked four sixes in a row against spinner Digvesh Rathi as KKR made 43 runs in the last two overs to go past the 150-run mark.
But his fifty remained a lone act, as Mohsin firmly stood in the limelight.
His bowling ethos were rooted in simple tactics — bang the ball into the black soil pitch to gain bounce or use cutters at various pace to keep the batters guessing.
Mohsin, who started the night with a wicket maiden, showed his variety across two dismissals.
He followed Rahane with a fuller ball as the batter tried to go over the covers, but the ball’s trajectory forced the KKR skipper to just slice the ball up for a simple catch for Aiden Markram.
The 27-year-old stayed calm when Green, who looked comfortable out there while smashing George Linde for two successive sixes, slammed him for a huge maximum.
Two balls later, Mohsin dug one short, challenging Green (34) to go for the pull and the Australian all-rounder took the bait.
The into-the-body angle worked again as Green could only sky the ball to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
Green’s ouster also ended a fifth wicket alliance worth 42 with Rinku Singh.
Bizarre dismissal of Raghuvanshi
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If the existing turmoil was not enough, KKR had to bear the dejection of seeing Angkrish Raghuvanshi getting dismissed obstructing the field.
On the final ball of the fifth over from Prince Yadav, Raghuvanshi nudged one towards mid-on and set off for a single, only to be rejected by Green.
Raghuvanshi put in a dive to save himself but he came in the line of the throw from Shami.
Subsequently, third umpire Rohit Pandit accepted LSG’s appeal and decided that the batter’s turning radius was more than required, eventually resulting in the batter’s dismissal in a rare manner.
