In October, the Bombay HC had acquitted the former Delhi University professor in a case of allegedly having links with Maoists. But the SC reversed the order.
In March 2017, a sessions court in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district convicted him and others, including a journalist and a student from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU, for alleged Maoist affiliations and engaging in activities akin to waging war against the country.