"We want you (state) to make him comfortable. Tell us how you will make him comfortable. You cannot have him in solitary confinement," a bench comprising Justices J S Khehar and C Nagappan said, while also directing the state to provide sufficient medical facilities.
The bench also asked the counsel for wheelchair-bound Saibaba to move an exemption plea before the trial court and fixed the matter for further hearing on February 29 when the Maharashtra government will have to inform it about the residential facility to be provided to the jailed professor.
During the hearing, the counsel for the state government said it would conclude the trial in a period of two months and the jailed professor was not kept in solitary confinement.
On the other hand, the counsel for the accused said Saibaba was wheelchair-bound and is kept in Nagpur jail which was nearly 170 kms away from the place where the trial was being conducted.
More From This Section
Earlier, the apex court had refused to stay a criminal contempt notice issued by the Bombay High Court against author Arundhati Roy for her article in a weekly magazine questioning the continued incarceration of Saibaba.
Gadchiroli Police had arrested Saibaba in 2014 for his alleged links with Maoists. He has been on bail since June last year.
Roy had expressed her views on the arrest in an article published in a weekly magazine last year.