Mumbai, April 21: The Bombay High Court has asked the Nagpur jail authorities in Maharashtra to make an effort to obtain a police report and process the parole application of former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, who is serving life sentence for alleged Maoist links.

Justice Vinay Joshi of the Nagpur bench of the high court was on Monday hearing a petition filed by Saibaba, seeking to be released on parole considering his ill-health and also to visit his mother, who is suffering from cancer, in Hyderabad. Ban on Doorstep Delivery of Newspapers: Bombay High Court Seeks Maharashtra Govt Response.

Additional public prosecutor S Jawade told the court that a report was sought from Hyderabad police authorities. He further submitted that due to the coronavirus- enforced lockdown across the country, the authorities were facing difficulties in getting the police report.

The prosecutor submitted that the report would be obtained as soon as the lockdown period is over. Saibabas counsel Mihir Desai, however, argued that the application seeking parole was filed on April 2 and as per the guidelines, it has to be decided within a period of 38 days, which ends on May 10.

"There is no dispute that in the current scenario the respondents (police and jail authorities) are facing difficulty in obtaining the report and having regard to the said fact, the matter is adjourned to May 5 for further consideration, the court said.

In the meantime, the authorities shall make an endeavour to obtain the report and to process the application expeditiously, it added. In March 2017, a sessions court in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district convicted and sentenced Saibaba and four others, including a journalist and a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student, for alleged Maoist links and indulging in activities amounting to waging war against the country.

The court held Saibaba and others guilty under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Following the conviction, Saibaba was lodged at the Nagpur prison.