New Delhi, Mar 11 : The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Chhattisgarh government on the bail plea of civil rights activist Binayak Sen, sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition and links with Naxalites. The apex court has asked the state government to explain why bail shouldn’t be granted to 61-year-old Dr Sen - he approached the SC after the Chhattisgarh High Court rejected his bail plea on February 10.
A professional doctor and pass out of the prestigious Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, Dr Sen has sought bail contending that the trial court has erred in convicting him when there was no substantial evidence.
In the petition prepared by senior advocate Ram Jethmalani it has been submitted that Dr Sen has already spent two years in jail after his arrest and he should be allowed to come out on bail during the pendency of appeal in the High Court.
Dr Sen, Vice President of People’s Union of Civil Liberties, was convicted for sedition and sentenced to life imprisonment along with Naxal ideologue Narayan Sanyal and Kolkata businessman Piyush Guha for colluding with Naxals to establish a network to fight the state.
Jethmalani, who had argued the bail plea in the High Court, had dubbed the charges against Dr Sen as politically motivated and had said, “The whole case is nothing but political persecution.”
Dr Sen’s conviction and sentence had led to outrage in many quarters, including international bodies of Human Rights.