In a major judicial pronouncement against Maoist movement in the country, Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba and four others, including a Jawaharlal Nehru University student, were on Tuesday sentenced to life imprisonment by Gadchiroli district court for their links with the banned organisation CPI(Maoist) and its leaders, while the sixth convict, Vijay Tirkey, was sent to 10 years’ jail.
Gadchiroli’s Principle District and Sessions Judge S S Shinde handed out sentences to Prof Saibaba and five others after convicting them under sections 13, 18, 20, 38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and 120-B ( Criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
Apart from Prof Saibaba, the four others convicts are JNU student Hem Mishra, former journalist Prashant Rahi and Mahesh Tirki, Pandu Narote.
In his verdict, the Judge stated that the prosecution had “established” that all six accused belonged to banned organisations CPI (Maoist) and another Maoist front organisation Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF).
“Several people had been killed and public property has been destroyed in the Maoist violence in Gadchiroli. ... For that all accused, who are members of the banned organisations, are responsible,” the Judge stated.
The Judge said that though life imprisonment was insufficient punishment meted out to the five accused. “But the hands of the court are closed with the mandate of sections 18 and 20 of UAPA and in my opinion it is a fit case to award sentence of imprisonment of life to the accused,” Judge Shinde noted.