Daily Briefing: SC to hear plea challenging GN Saibaba’s acquittal; CCP’s 20th National Congress; and more

1) The Supreme Court is set to hear a petition today filed by the Maharashtra government challenging the acquittal of sacked Delhi University professor GN Saibaba and others in a UAPA case. 

🔴 Here’s what happened: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court acquitted Saibaba and five others who had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 over alleged Maoist links. Soon after, the Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court which declined to stay the acquittal order. 

🔴 Why Bombay HC acquitted Saibaba: The High Court ruled that the trial of Saibaba and five others were “null and void” in the absence of a valid sanction under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967. We explain what this means. 

🔴 Meanwhile, at DU: Saibaba’s colleagues, who supported him through the duration of his incarceration, celebrated his acquittal by the Bombay High Court, but the question of his position in the university remains. 

2) After taking suo moto cognisance of a report in The Indian Express on the issue, the National Green Tribunal has imposed an environmental compensation of Rs 500 crore on the Karnataka government for its failure in maintaining Chandapura lake in Anekal taluk and taking steps to restore the water body. The NGT had taken cognisance of a November 21, 2021 report published in The Indian Express and set up a seven-member committee to look into the matter.

3) Xi Jinping is set to get a third term as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China. The CCP’s 20th National Congress beginning in Beijing on October 16 is a very important moment in China’s politics, with implications for the world at large. But how has China fared at home and abroad in Xi’s terms from 2012 to 2022? One of India’s most prominent China experts, Gautam Bambawale, weighs in on Xi Jinping’s big show of strength.

4) In our opinion section today, Vijay Gokhale writes on how the CCP’s 20th National Congress will signal the way China balances development, stability, and epidemic control: “What is more remarkable this time is the near absence of informed leaks about the personnel changes and policy direction that will come forth in the Party Congress. This silence underscores the extent of personalistic rule and authoritarian control that Xi has developed.”

🍿 What to watch this weekend 

5) This week, Shubhra Gupta reviews the latest Ayushmann Khurrana and Rahul Preet film ‘Doctor G’: “The film is so busy earning its feminist cred that it forgets the show-more-than-tell dictum, and never becomes the cracker it could have been.” (2.5 ⭐)

The Express Saturday Quiz

🔴 Nigeria’s south-western city of Igbo-Ora has a unique distinction, which is celebrated annually by the members of the community that lives here. What is Igbo-Ora known for?

• Twins in nearly every family 
• Highest level of female literacy 
• Biggest collection of vintage cars

Until tomorrow, 

Rahel Philipose and Anandu Suresh