Bombay High Court: The Court while rejecting the bail application of Dr. Gokarakonda Naga Saibaba who was arrested for his alleged links with Maoists, directed for registration of Criminal Contempt against the author Arundhati Roy for the article she had written in The Outlook criticizing the non-granting of bail to the Professor.
The Professor had approached the Court for the second time, after his first bail application on health grounds was rejected. In this application, an additional ground was also raised about parity in relation to the other accused in the same crime. The court, rejecting the ground of parity raised observed that, unlike others, there is a prima facie case against the Prof. Saibaba and in fact he being an intellectual has used his intelligentsia for anti national activities for which there is strong evidence against him. The Court in its judgment has also reproduced an Article written by Arundati Roy which appeared in Outlook, in which she had questioned denial of bail to the Professor. The Court said that, instead of challenging the orders passed by Sessions Court and High Court, the author appears to have invented a novel idea of bashing the Central Government, the State Government, the Police machinery and the judiciary and that was, prima facie, with a mala fide motive to interfere in the administration of Justice.
The Court thus dismissed the application for bail and directed the applicant to surrender within 48 hours lest he shall be arrested by the police. Also, in furtherance of the reasons given in the judgment, criminal contempt was directed to be registered against author Arundhati Roy. [Dr. Gokarakonda Naga Saibaba v. State of Maharasthra, Criminal Application (BA) NO.785/2015, decided on 24.12.15]