HC seeks Maharashtra govt's reply on parole plea of ex-prof Saibaba

The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court sought Maharashtra governments response to a petition filed by Delhi University's former professor G N Saibaba

The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Tuesday sought Maharashtra governments response to a petition filed by Delhi Universitys former professor G N Saibaba for emergency parole to attend the post funeral rituals of his late mother in Hyderabad.

Saibaba, who is serving life sentence in the Nagpur Central Prison for links with Maoists, lost his 74-year-old ailing mother on August 1, even as his lawyers were seeking to arrange a video conference between the two.

Last week, the prison authorities rejected Saibabas application for parole to attend the last rites of his mother.

He then approached the high court through his advocate Mihir Desai, seeking to be released on emergency parole so that he could go to Hyderabad and attend the post funeral rituals of his mother.

On Tuesday, special public prosecutor P K Sathianathan sought time from the court to respond to the plea.

A division bench of Justices A S Chandurkar and A B Borkar issued a notice to the state government and directed it to respond to the plea by August 18.

Saibaba earlier also sought parole from the prison authorities to meet his mother, who was suffering from cancer, but it was rejected.

The former professor, 51, who is wheelchair-bound with over 90 per cent physical disabilities, had also filed a bail plea before the high court's Nagpur bench on the ground that his mother was unwell and his own health was deteriorating.

The high court rejected the bail plea on July 28.

In March 2017, a sessions court in Maharashtras Gadchiroli district convicted Saibaba and four others, including a journalist and a student of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU),for alleged Maoist links and indulging in activities amounting to "waging war against the country".

The court had held Saibaba and the other guilty under various provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Since his conviction, Saibaba has been lodged in the Nagpur Central Prison.