The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Tuesday acquitted former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba and five others convicted in an alleged Maoist links case, after the paraplegic academic had spent 10 years in jail.

In its judgment, the division bench of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki S.A. Menezes said: “The prosecution has failed to establish legal arrest and seizure from accused Nos.1 to 5, and failed to establish the seizure of incriminating material from the house search of accused No. 6 G.N. Saibaba. The prosecution has also failed to prove the electronic evidence in terms of the provisions of the Indian Evidence Act and the Information Technology Act.”

The Maharashtra government has approached the Supreme Court against the acquittal. Later on Tuesday, the Nagpur bench refused to stay its judgment. Till the filing of this report, it was unclear when they would be released from jail.

The wheelchair-bound Saibaba, a former professor at DU’s Ram Lal Anand College, was arrested in 2014.

The five others were arrested the previous year. In 2017, a trial court in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli found them guilty of waging war against the government and convicted them under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Saibaba, former Jawaharlal Nehru University student Hem Mishra, Uttarakhand journalist Prashant Rahi and Gadchiroli tribals Vijay Tirki and Pandu Narote were sentenced to life imprisonment while Mahesh Tirki was awarded a jail term of 10 years.

Saibaba, who is paralysed from below his waist, developed life-threatening complications in Nagpur prison that his family blamed on the poor living conditions and inadequate medical treatment. Saibaba went on hunger strikes several times in protest.

Narote died of swine flu in jail in 2022.

Saibaba’s wife A. S. Vasantha thanked the lawyers and human rights defenders for their solidarity.

She told The Telegraph: “Extremely happy to hear the news of full acquittal for Dr G.N. Saibaba and others. After 10 long years of struggle, justice is delivered. I only hope there are no future obstacles to his very well-deserved freedom.”

Senior advocate of the Supreme Court, Indira Jaising, tweeted: “Saibaba acquitted, but after how long? Who will give back his health to him? The courts? Shame. How many others have to wait for bail? Who pays the price of loss of liberty without authority of law?”