Hope no future obstacles to his freedom, says Vasantha Kumari on Saibaba’s release

Former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba’s wife Vasantha Kumari said the Bombay high court verdict that overturned his conviction said their fight for justice is far from over.

“After 10 long years of struggle, justice is finally delivered. I only hope there are no future obstacles to his very well-deserved freedom,” she said, thanking lawyers who “tirelessly” championed Saibaba’s cause and the human rights defenders who stood in solidarity with Saibaba during his incarceration on charges of links to Maoists and “waging war against India”.

According to Vasantha Kumari, the incarceration exacerbated Saibaba’s pre-existing health conditions and caused new health issues including cysts in his brain, a lump in his stomach, pancreatic problems, and kidney stones.

She said that despite numerous pleas for medical bail or parole, relief had been denied, prolonging Saibaba’s agony. “Even at the time of his mother’s death, he wasn’t given any parole,” she lamented.

Saibaba — who has been wheelchair-bound after being struck by polio as a child — was arrested by Gadchroli police in May 2014 from his home in Delhi after which he was suspended from his position as professor of English in Delhi University. It has since become one of India’s most high-profile terror cases with activists alleging rights violations and the government arguing that the strictest punishment must be meted out given the gravity of the charges.

On Tuesday, the high court reversed the Gadchiroli sessions court’s verdict of March 7, 2017, that convicted Saibaba under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and acquitted him, ruling that the prosecution was vitiated on account of invalid sanction to prosecute all the accused. “The trial held despite the violation of mandatory provisions of the law itself amounts to the failure of justice,” the high court said.

The high court also pointed out that the prosecution failed to establish legal seizure of material and could not prove any incriminating material had been seized from the accused.

Kumari said others arrested along with Saibaba in the case should also be released. “The day every single individual unjustly incarcerated under draconian laws is released is the day we will get justice,” she said.

”Once he was arrested they halved his salary with immediate effect and then terminated his job as well in 2021. Being a professor was his biggest passion,” added Manjeera, their daughter. Saibaba, a professor of English at Delhi University’s Ram Lal Anand College, was suspended in 2014 and continued receiving half his salary. In 2021, his services were terminated.

Manjeera added: “Pandu Narote who was accused alongside my father died in jail before the case could even conclude. The stress of dealing with all this alongside financial hardships and how to go about fighting the case was unbearable at times. We made sure that we interacted with him constantly and our well-wishers supported us throughout. This was not a fight we fought alone, we would not have received justice if it wasn’t based on solidarity.”

“Beech mein thodi chhodenge (We will not leave our fight in the middle)” said Kumari. “We will talk about the violation of our rights and this is a people struggle and if we want to save our country then we will have to continue with our fight as well.”8
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