‘Can’t believe I’m free… still feels like I’m in a jail cell’: Former DU professor G N Saibaba

co-accused in a suspected Maoist links case and allowed their appeals against their conviction in 2017.

Addressing a press conference at Delhi’s HKS Surjeet Bhawan on Friday, Saibaba, who has spent seven years in jail, said, “… It was like an ‘agni pariksha’ for me. I had to go through this test twice.”

“One judgment of the higher judiciary acquitting us was not enough… justice delayed is justice denied. Today we are happy with tears in our eyes… it was not only a test for us but it became a test for higher judiciary… perhaps higher judiciary also passed the agni pariksha,” he added.

Thanking his lawyers for fighting the case, he said one of them appeared for him without taking any fee. “Another lawyer was jailed because of supporting me. During the trial, certain police officers threatened my lawyers,” he alleged, adding, “The state is there to serve the people, it is not there to punish the people and crush humanity.”

Talking about his family, an emotional Saibaba said they survived only on hope. “Instead of going to the hospital, I chose to speak to the press today because you supported me. My family faced stigma and I was called a terrorist… I am sitting in front of you today to talk to you all with a lot of pain in my body. I am unable to talk properly nor am I in a position to sit here either,” he said.

emembering his mother, he said, “If I was able to teach in a university like DU, it was only because of my mother… all women across the country, the poorest of the poor… have only one desire that my child should get an education. My mother had the same dream. She died because I was implicated in this case and incarcerated without any facts. Till her last moment, she asked to see me.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, his wife Vasantha Kumari had said after his acquittal: “We all knew this would happen sooner or later because my husband is innocent. But justice delayed caused a lot of pain to my family and his health.”