Saibaba bail rejection shows judiciary's insensitiveness: Activists

New Delhi, Dec 24: A day after the gpur bench of the Bombay High Court rejected the bail plea of Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba, activists including senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Thursday condemned the order, terming it a blot on the history of the judiciary.

Cancelling Saibaba’s interim bail, the single judge bench of Justice A.B. Chaudhari directed him to surrender in two days. Maharashtra Police had arrested Saibaba for his alleged Maoist links in May 2014. Addressing a press conference organised by the ‘Committee for the Defense and release of Dr. G.N. Saibaba’, Bhushan said rejection of the bail plea underlined the need for judicial accountability in the country. Calling the judgment a “product of a prejudiced mind”, Bhushan said it shows the insensitiveness and lack of understanding of the judiciary.

“A person can be denied bail only under certain circumstances. Being a 90 percent disabled person, Saibaba doesn’t pose any threat to the country. What is the need to cancel his interim bail and put him behind bars in 48 hours?” asked Bhushan, adding that the order reeked of vindictiveness and vendetta. He expressed the hope that the Supreme Court will reverse the order. “We will take the case to the Supreme Court and hope it will reverse the order,” said Bhushan.

The gpur bench on Wednesday dismissed Saibaba’s interim bail order issued by the Bombay High Court on May 30, which granted him interim relief till December 31 to avail of treatment for his serious medical condition. It directed Saibaba to surrender at the gpur Central Jail. The court also ordered proceedings for crimil contempt to be initiated against author Arundhati Roy for her article titled “Professor, POW” on Saibaba’s arrest that was published in Outlook magazine on May 18, 2015. Observing that Roy made scandalous observations against the central, state governments and police in her article, the court issued notice to her for contempt of court. rrating Saibaba’s ordeal in prison, his wife Vasanta said the judiciary has failed them with the order. Saibaba’s health has deteriorated in jail, and one of his hands has become immobile, she said. “Don’t they have heart to send a 90 percent disabled person to jail again in 48 hours? He needs help to wear a shirt. (ians)