Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Free of guilt: On the exoneration of former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba and five others

Free of guilt: On the exoneration of former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba and five others

Saibaba’s acquittal (दोषमुक्ति) underscores that there can be no guilt by mere association (संघ, संगठन)

The exoneration of former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba and five others of the charge of having Maoist (a follower of Maoism (it originated in China as a form of communist theory derived from the teachings of Chinese political leader Mao Zedong)) links exposes (reveal, disclose, show, exhibit, uncover, betray) the practice of invoking (आह्वान करना) stringent (कठोर, सख्त) laws based on nothing more than (only) a person’s likely (संभावित) association with or sympathy (सहानुभूति) for extremist (चरमपंथी, अतिवादी) groups. Their acquittal by the Bombay High Court is notable (उल्लेखनीय) for giving full meaning to the procedural safeguards (प्रक्रियात्मक सुरक्षा उपाय) that countervail (offset, counteract, act against with equal power, force, or effect) the stringency (अभाव, कमी) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (an Indian law aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India. Its main objective was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India). It also shines a light on the bail-denying features (विशेषता) of the law that allows the state to imprison (incarcerate, put in prison, take into custody, confine, detain) suspects (संदिग्ध व्यक्ति) for long years even though the evidence backing (support, endorse, approve, uphold, sanction) their arrest is doubtful or flimsy (unconvincing, unsatisfactory, unsubstantial; feeble, weak, poor, lame). In this particular case, five of the accused were arrested in 2013 and continued to be incarcerated (imprison, put in prison, take into custody, confine, detain) since then, and one of them died during the pendency (the condition/period of waiting for settlement) of the appeal. Mr. Saibaba was arrested in 2014. The trial court (निचली अदालत) had convicted (find guilty, declare guilty, sentence, punish) the six of them and sentenced five of them to life and awarded a 10-year term to the other. The case will also be remembered for a dubious (suspicious, questionable, doubtful) reason: the Supreme Court’s hasty (hurried, rapid/quick; reckless, ill-considered, ill-advised) intervention (involvement, interference, mediation, arbitration, conciliation) to stay (stop, delay, or prevent something temporarily (a judicial proceeding/trial through the order of a court)) their discharge (declare innocent; acquit, release, free (from a criminal charge); vindicate, absolve, exonerate) by the High Court in 2022. They were discharged on the ground (reason, cause, basis, factor) that the sanction (approval, green signal, permission, clearance, authorization) given to prosecute (take to court, bring an action against, take legal action against, accuse, charge) them under UAPA was not valid, but an apex court Bench (a court of law with a number of judges) sat the very next morning, a Saturday, to stay the order, and later directed the High Court to pass a fresh judgment on merits (an essential inherent quality (rights and wrongs only) while evaluating a case (not by external aspects)). Many had questioned the haste (hurry, speed, rush, alacrity, swiftness, quickness) with which the benefit of discharge was reversed (cancel, nullify, rescind, overrule, repeal, annul).

The latest judgment is a complete repudiation (denial/refusal, disavowal/disclaimer, contradiction/rejection) of the prosecution case, holding (पकड़ना) that the seizure (taking way (by legal right/warrant); confiscation, appropriation, impounding, commandeering) effected from the accused was not proved, the material (information, details, documents, particulars) relied upon by the state was inadequate and that there was nothing to link the accused with any terrorist act, conspiracy (unlawful plan, intrigue, collaboration/deception) or membership of any Maoist organisation. It also found that the sanction given under UAPA to five of the accused was invalid because the report of the authority (officials, officialdom, the people in charge, the government, the administration, the establishment, the bureaucracy, the powers that be) meant to review material against them independently was just a green signal (approval, sanction, permission, clearance, authorization) for their prosecution, containing no discussion on the nature of the evidence. Further, the trial court had taken cognisance of the charge sheet (an official document on which a police officer enters details of the charge against a person) against Mr. Saibaba even before the sanction, which came later, had been received. In its discussion on the use of UAPA against the accused, the Court has again emphasised (underline, underscore, highlight, stress, call/draw attention to) that the more stringent a law is, the greater will be the need to adhere to (follow, obey, comply with, stick to, abide by, conform to) procedural safeguards — the independent review was an additional safeguard introduced in UAPA in 2008. It reiterates (say something again; say again, repeat, retell, restate, iterate, recapitulate) the principle that mere possession (the state/condition of having something) of literature (publications, bulletins, leaflets, brochures, flyers, notices) or publicity material, without any direct evidence linking suspects with a terrorist act, cannot be a ground to convict them under UAPA.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.acquittal (noun)

Hindi Meaning - दोषमुक्ति
English Meaning - declaration of innocence, clearing, discharge, release, vindication, exoneration.

2.association (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संघ, संगठन
English Meaning - relationship, connection, attachment, contact, link.

3.invoke (verb)

Hindi Meaning - आह्वान करना
English Meaning - cite, mention, refer to, point to, adduce, turn to, resort to.

4.stringent (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - कठोर, सख्त
English Meaning - strict, severe, extreme, rigorous.

5.likely (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - संभावित
English Meaning - probable, possible, plausible, believable.

6.sympathy (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सहानुभूति
English Meaning - common feeling, closeness, togetherness, empathy, consideration.

7.extremist (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - चरमपंथी, अतिवादी
English Meaning - militant, radical, fanatic, hardliner, fundamentalist, sectarian, partisan.

8.notable (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - उल्लेखनीय
English Meaning - important, significant, striking, glaring, obvious; impressive, remarkable.

9.procedural safeguards (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रक्रियात्मक सुरक्षा उपाय
English Meaning -refers to the protections afforded to a defendant (accused/suspect) in the course of criminal proceedings

10.stringency (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अभाव, कमी
English Meaning - the condition of being rigorous & strict.

11.bail (noun)

Hindi Meaning - जमानत
English Meaning - conditional, temporary release of an arrested/imprisoned person when a specified amount of security is deposited or pledged (as cash or property) to ensure his/her appearance in court when required.

12.feature (noun)

Hindi Meaning - विशेषता
English Meaning - aspect, point, attribute, quality.

13.suspect (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संदिग्ध व्यक्ति
English Meaning - the accused

14.hold (verb)

Hindi Meaning - पकड़ना
English Meaning - (of a court) rule, decide.

15.trial court (noun)

Hindi Meaning - निचली अदालत
English Meaning - a court of law where cases are tried at first. (try means to investigate and decide (a case) in a formal trial).

16.underscore (verb)

English Meaning - underline, emphasise, highlight, stress, call/draw attention to.

17.guilt (noun)

English Meaning - the state/fact of having committed an offense/crime; wrongdoing, culpability, unlawfulness, misconduct.

18.exoneration (noun)

English Meaning - freeing from blame/guilt; absolving from blame/guilt; vindication, acquittal, discharge, release, clearing.

19.charge (noun)

English Meaning - allegation, accusation, indictment.

20.Maoist (noun)

English Meaning - a follower of Maoism (it originated in China as a form of communist theory derived from the teachings of Chinese political leader Mao Zedong).

21.expose (verb)

English Meaning - reveal, disclose, show, exhibit, uncover, betray.

22.nothing more than (phrase)

English Meaning - only.

23.countervail (verb)

English Meaning - offset, counteract, act against with equal power, force, or effect.

24.Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) (noun)

English Meaning - an Indian law aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India. Its main objective was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India.

25.shine a light on (phrase)

English Meaning - to make something clear or easier to understand by giving more details.

26.imprison (verb)

English Meaning - incarcerate, put in prison, take into custody, confine, detain.

27.back (verb)

English Meaning - support, endorse, approve, uphold, sanction.

28.flimsy (adjective)

English Meaning - unconvincing, unsatisfactory, unsubstantial; feeble, weak, poor, lame.

29.incarcerate (verb)

English Meaning - imprison, put in prison, take into custody, confine, detain.

30.pendency (noun)

English Meaning - the condition/period of waiting for settlement.

31.trial (noun)

English Meaning - legal proceedings, inquiry, hearing, legal action/case.

32.convict (verb)

English Meaning - find guilty, declare guilty, sentence, punish.

33.sentence (verb)

English Meaning - pass judgement on, impose a sentence on, pronounce sentence on, mete out punishment to, punish, convict.

34.life sentence (noun)

English Meaning - a punishment for a criminal of imprisonment for life; prison term, prison sentence, jail sentence, penal sentence.

35.dubious (noun)

English Meaning - suspicious, questionable, doubtful.

36.hasty (adjective)

English Meaning - hurried, rapid/quick; reckless, ill-considered, ill-advised.

37.intervention (noun)

English Meaning - involvement, interference, mediation, arbitration, conciliation.

38.stay (verb)

English Meaning - stop, delay, or prevent something temporarily (a judicial proceeding/trial through the order of a court).

39.discharge (verb)

English Meaning - declare innocent; acquit, release, free (from a criminal charge); vindicate, absolve, exonerate.

40.ground (noun)

English Meaning - reason, cause, basis, factor.

41.sanction (noun)

English Meaning - approval, green signal, permission, clearance, authorization.

42.prosecute (verb)

English Meaning - take to court, bring an action against, take legal action against, accuse, charge.

43.bench (noun)

English Meaning - a court of law with a number of judges.

44.merits (noun)

English Meaning - an essential inherent quality (rights and wrongs only) while evaluating a case (not by external aspects).

45.haste (noun)

English Meaning - hurry, speed, rush, alacrity, swiftness, quickness.

46.reverse (verb)

English Meaning - cancel, nullify, rescind, overrule, repeal, annul.

47.repudiation (noun)

English Meaning - denial/refusal, disavowal/disclaimer, contradiction/rejection.

48.hold (verb)

English Meaning - (of a court) rule, decide.

49.seizure (noun)

English Meaning - taking way (by legal right/warrant); confiscation, appropriation, impounding, commandeering.

50.material (noun)

English Meaning - information, details, documents, particulars.

51.rely upon (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - depend on, bank on; resort to, have recourse to.

52.conspiracy (noun)

English Meaning - unlawful plan, intrigue, collaboration/deception.

53.authority (noun)

English Meaning - officials, officialdom, the people in charge, the government, the administration, the establishment, the bureaucracy, the powers that be.

54.green signal (noun)

English Meaning - approval, sanction, permission, clearance, authorization.

55.prosecution (noun)

English Meaning - the party instituting legal proceedings against someone in a case.

56.take cognisance of (phrase)

English Meaning - take into account, take into consideration, give attention to, take notice of something

57.charge sheet (noun)

English Meaning - an official document on which a police officer enters details of the charge against a person.

58.emphasise (verb)

English Meaning - underline, underscore, highlight, stress, call/draw attention to.

59.adhere to (verb)

English Meaning - follow, obey, comply with, stick to, abide by, conform to.

60.reiterate (verb)

English Meaning - say something again; say again, repeat, retell, restate, iterate, recapitulate.

61.possession (noun)

English Meaning - the state/condition of having something.

62.literature (noun)

English Meaning - publications, bulletins, leaflets, brochures, flyers, notices.