Former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, who was acquitted by the Bombay High Court in a case involving alleged Maoist links, said he still feels like he is confined to a jail cell after spending seven years incarcerated. Saibaba was released from Nagpur Central Jail on Thursday, two days after the High Court acquitted him and set aside his life sentence.
Addressing the media today, an emotional Saibaba recounted the harrowing ordeal his family went through over the past seven years while he was imprisoned. "It was like an 'agni pariksha' (test by fire) for me. I had to go through it twice," he said, referring to being jailed from 2014-2016 and then again from 2017 after his conviction by a trial court.
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Saibaba, who is wheelchair-bound with 90% physical disabilities, thanked his lawyers for fighting the case pro-bono and alleged they faced threats from police officers during the trial. "One lawyer even got jailed for supporting me," he claimed.
Talking about the stigma his family faced, Saibaba broke down, saying, "My family survived only on hope. Instead of going to the hospital, I chose to speak to the press because you supported me. We faced stigma and I was called a terrorist."
The Bombay High Court had ruled that the prosecution failed to prove its case that Saibaba was a member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) or that he was waging war against the country. His acquittal came after years of his family, activists and academics questioning his prosecution under draconian laws.
