The Supreme Court on Monday made it clear to the Maharashtra government that it cannot keep Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba in prison as he has to be kept in a guesthouse and medical treatment is to be provided to him.
A bench of Justices J.S. Khehar and C. Nagappan asked the Maharashtra counsel to take instructions if the state were to oppose bail to Prof. Saibaba, following his arrest for alleged links with Maoists.
The bench said if Prof. Saibaba is taken to Nagpur to face trial, then they have to ensure that sufficient medical facilities for his treatment and lodging. The court made it clear that the facilities have to be in a guesthouse and not in a jail.
The court also allowed Prof. Saibaba to move an application seeking personal exemption from appearing before the trial court by Wednesday and the same will be considered on Friday.
In his bail plea, Prof. Saibaba said he was granted interim bail by a division bench of the Bombay high Court on the basis of an email sent to the Chief Justice by Purnima Upadhyay, a social activist, who relied upon a report about the physical condition of Prof. Saibaba from a newspaper article by Pavan Dahat. The bench asked Prof. Saibaba to seek regular bail in the sessions court.
Even as the matter was pending, a single judge on December 23, 2015, acting on a PIL, cancelled the bail and directed him to surrender. While seeking to quash the single judge’s order, he prayed for granting bail. The bench directed the matter to be listed on Friday.
