A session court judge on Monday reprimanded nine students of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) booked for attending a meeting to mark the death anniversary from former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba, warning that the case against them could adversely affect their future job prospects. The judge granted provisional protection from arrest to the nine students.
“He has a criminal record. Now his record is with the police, not only here but across the country. You know that you have made a mistake so early before your career started. Your career is ruined,” said Additional Sessions Judge Manoj B Oza.
The nine students have been named in an FIR lodged by the Trombay police, and hearing on their anticipatory bail applications is pending before the sessions court. On Monday, Justice Manoj B Oza addressed the students, who were forming a queue at the back of the courtroom.
“How many of you are from outside Maharashtra? Did you come to study in Maharashtra because of all this? Do your parents know about the case? How many of your parents have government jobs? You will not get government jobs because of the case,” the judge told the students.
He added that even if they accepted private employment, they would have to disclose the pending criminal case against them.
He then asked his lawyer about the program the students were following.
When told they were enrolled in a Master of Social Work program, the judge said their degrees would not help them get a job. “They think they are scientists or engineers. Even engineers don’t have jobs,” he said.
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During the previous hearing, on December 23, the special prosecutor had noted that the students were not present in court. Their lawyer later assured the court that they would remain present on Monday.
After addressing the students, the judge adjourned the hearing until the end of this month to present arguments on their anticipatory bail applications, while also extending the interim protection granted earlier.
The anticipatory bail applications were filed in October 2025 after the Trombay police registered the FIR on a complaint filed by an associate dean of the institute. As part of the investigation, the students’ electronic devices, including their cell phones and laptops, were confiscated.
The FIR pertains to an event held at the TISS campus in Deonar on October 12, 2025 to mark the first death anniversary of Saibaba.
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The 57-year-old man had been Accredited by the Bombay High Court of March 5, 2024, which considered the sanction to prosecute him under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Law invalid. The High Court had quashed a 2017 court order that had sentenced Saibaba to life imprisonment on charges of being an active member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
