| Gokarakonda Naga Saibaba | |
| Birth Place: | Amalapuram |
| Occupation: | Human rights activist, professor, writer. |
| Language: | Telugu, English, Hindi |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Spouse: | Vasantha Kumari[1] [2] |
Gokarakonda Naga "G. N." Saibaba (born 1967) is an Indian scholar, writer, human rights activist, and former assistant professor.[3]
Earlier, he was accused by the law enforcement of links with banned left wing extremist organizations and was convicted to life imprisonment by a session court in 2017. He was acquitted of the charges under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act by Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on 14 October 2022.[4] The Supreme Court of India suspended the order of acquittal[5] and asked the Bombay High Court to reevaluate the case afresh. On 5 March 2024, Saibaba (and 5 others arrested and tried with him) was once again acquitted by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. The High Court bench tore into the state's case for its lack of technical propriety and dodgy evidence, and called the trial court's verdict a "failure of justice".[6] Bombay High Court's second acquittal has also been challenged by the state in the Supreme Court for the second time, by way of filing a special leave petition on the same day and prior to the delivery of the HC judgement.
Saibaba was born in 1967[7] in Amalapuram, a town in East Godavari of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, in a poor peasant family.[8] He has used a wheelchair since the age of five due to polio.[1] He has had several health problems while imprisoned and is 80% physically handicapped.[1] [8]
Having studied at Sree Konaseema Bhanoji Ramars (SKBR) College in Amalapuram, he finished his degree at the top of the university.[8] He obtained his M.A. in English from University of Hyderabad.[9] [2] In 2013, he completed his PhD dissertation which was awarded by Delhi University. His doctoral thesis was on "Indian Writing in English and Nation Making: Reading the Discipline".[10]
Saibaba's literary inspiration are Gurajada Apparao, Sri Sri, and the Kenyan Ngugi Wa Thiong'o.[8] Saibaba's early works in Telugu were published in Srijana, an Indian magazine. These early articles focused on the dominant forms of knowledge that worked against Dalit and Adivasi assertions in the Indian Novel.[11]
Saibaba taught English at Ram Lal Anand College of Delhi University for several years.[8] [12] He received life imprisonment for his connections to Maoists and was removed from Assistant Professor post at Ram Lal Anand College of Delhi University in February 2021.[13]
During the Mumbai Resistance 2004, a platform of over 310 political movements organised parallel to the World Social Forum, Saibaba participated as an active organiser. During this period he became a part of the International League of People's Struggle (ILPS).[8]
In 2005, he joined the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF) which was banned in August 2012 by the AP government under Andhra Pradesh Public Security Act 1992 for alleged subversive activities.[14]
In 2009, he was a prominent voice in the campaign against Operation Green Hunt, mainly the military actions perpetrated by the Indian state.[15]
He was arrested in May 2014 for Maoist links.[16] He was granted bail by Bombay High Court in June 2015 on medical grounds and he was released in July 2015. He was sent back to jail in December 2015 was released again in April 2016 after Supreme Court granted him bail.[17]
He was sentenced to life imprisonment in March 2017 under Sections 13, 18, 20, 38 and 39 of the UAPA and Section 120 B of the Indian Penal Code for connections with the banned Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF), an organisation linked with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).[18] Saibaba denied the charge that organisation he ran was a front for CPI-Maoist.[12]
The Maoist called for "Bharat Bandh" on 29 March 2017 to protest against Saibaba's life imprisonment with banners and pamphlets distributed by the CPI-Maoist at Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh region.[19]
On 30 April 2020, a panel of experts with the United Nations OHCHR called on the Indian government urging the authorities to immediately release G.N. Saibaba, due to his "seriously deteriorating" health condition.[1]
On 28 July 2020, the Bombay High Court rejected Saibaba's 45-day medical bail petition.[20] He was denied permission to visit his 74-year-old mother who died of cancer,[21] and after she died was denied to participate in funeral rituals.[22]
On 22 October 2020, Saibaba called off his hunger strike after his demands about cctv cameras were accepted by the jail authorities.[23]
In April 2021, he was terminated from Ram Lal Anand College of Delhi University.[24] His professorship stands terminated as of July 2021.[25] [26]
In October 2022, Saibaba and five others were acquitted by a high court bench that set aside the life imprisonment sentence awarded to them in 2017. The bench concluded that the proceedings before the sessions court were "null and void" in the absence of a valid sanction under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).[27] Discharging all five accused, Justice Deo had observed that the due process of law cannot be sacrificed at the altar of “perceived peril to national security”. However, days after that the Supreme Court of India suspended his acquittal. The Supreme Court bench, consisting of Justice Bela Trivedi (who had earlier served as Gujrat state's Law Secretary during Narendra Modi's tenure as Chief Minister of Gujrat[28]) and Justice M.R. Shah, had agreed to hear Maharashtra state's special leave petition on a Saturday (a court holiday) and stayed the HC acquital.[29] The Supreme Court found fault with the High Court's order and observed the High Court has not considered the incriminating material against him as well as the merits of the case.
In March 2024, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court once again acquitted G.N. Saibaba and all the other 5 accused (one of whom died from Swine flu during imprisonment), citing 'dodgy' evidence and lack of technical regularity during the prosecution.[30] The state's counsel, in an exact replication of the 2022 proceedings, filed for another Special Leave Petition with the Supreme Court to stay the new HC order. Interestingly, the petition was filed before the Supreme Court even prior to the release of HC order, just as it was done in 2022.