India, March 7 -- The Bombay high court's acquittal of GN Saibaba, a former Delhi University academician, in a case concerning his alleged links to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) underscores key failings of India's criminal justice system. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, and the sanction to prosecute him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA, was granted only the following year. Yet, a sessions court in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, took cognisance of the case and heard the first witness even before the sanction was granted. Saibaba was handed a conviction by the same court and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017. Upon appeal, the Bombay high court (HC) recognised the procedural lapses and overturned the conviction in 2022, ordering his release. But this was overturned promptly by the Supreme Court, which ordered a fresh review, on merits of the case, by the high court. Now, the HC has held that the prosecution failed to prove its case: "The prosecution has failed to establish any legal seizure or any incriminating material against the accused," the two-judge bench said on Tuesday. The court also said the trial commencing despite mandatory legal provisions being breached, was "a failure of justice"....