Judge cautions TISS students booked for attending event on GN Saibaba death anniversary
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While granting interim protection from arrest to nine Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) students on Monday, a sessions court judge hearing their anticipatory bail pleas cautioned them that the criminal case against them could have serious consequences for their future careers.
The students have been named in an FIR registered by the Trombay police in connection with a gathering held in October to mark the death anniversary of former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba. Their anticipatory bail applications are currently pending before the sessions court. During the hearing, Additional Sessions Judge Manoj B. Oza addressed the students, who were standing at the back of the courtroom, and warned them about the possible long-term impact of the case.
The judge reportedly pointed out that several of them had come from outside Maharashtra to pursue their studies and asked whether their families were aware of the case. He cautioned that the pending criminal proceedings could prevent them from securing government jobs and said that even private employers would require disclosure of such cases during recruitment, Indian Express reported.
The FIR relates to an event organised on the TISS campus in Deonar on October 12, 2025, to observe Saibaba’s first death anniversary. Saibaba, who died at the age of 57, had been acquitted by the Bombay High Court in March 2024, which ruled that the sanction granted to prosecute him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was invalid. The High Court had overturned a 2017 sessions court verdict that had sentenced him to life imprisonment for alleged links with the banned CPI (Maoist).
The judge further remarked that the students now had a criminal case on record that was accessible to police agencies across the country and suggested that this would severely affect their prospects at an early stage of their careers. When informed by their lawyer that the students were enrolled in a Master’s programme in Social Work, the judge reportedly commented that such degrees would not necessarily guarantee employment, adding that even engineering graduates were struggling to find jobs.
The court was also told that during the previous hearing on December 23, the special public prosecutor had noted the absence of the students, following which their counsel had assured the court that they would remain present at the next hearing.
After addressing the students, the judge asked them to leave the courtroom and adjourned the matter to later this month for arguments on their anticipatory bail applications, while continuing the interim protection from arrest granted earlier.
The anticipatory bail pleas were filed in October 2025 after the Trombay police registered the FIR based on a complaint by an associate dean of TISS. As part of the investigation, the police have seized the students’ electronic devices, including mobile phones and laptops.