COVID-19: Ex-DU professor Saibaba moves bail plea in HC

Nagpur: Former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, who is serving life sentence in a prison here for alleged Maoist links, has filed a bail application before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, citing his weak health and the outbreak of coronavirus in the jail.

After Saibaba filed the bail plea seeking urgent hearing into it, a division bench of Justices Atul Chandurkar and Amit Borkar on Tuesday issued notices to the Maharashtra government and other respondents to file their replies before July 24, when the court will hear the case.

In his bail application, Saibaba said his weak health along with comorbidities make him vulnerable to contract the coronavirus infection.

He is lodged at the Nagpur Central Prison, where over 150 prisoners and 40 jail staffers have so far tested positive for coronavirus.

The jail houses nearly 1,800 inmates while 265 police personnel are attached to it.

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

The court held Saibaba and others guilty under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

Following the conviction, Saibaba was lodged at the Nagpur prison.