SC notice to Ch'garh on Binayak Sen's bail plea

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Chhattisgarh government on a petition by rights activist Binayak Sen seeking bail and stay on his life imprisonment imposed by a sessions court for his links with Maoists.

A bench of justices H S Bedi and C K Prasad asked the Chhattisgarh government to file its response within four weeks. The bench passed the order despite counsel for Sen seeking adjournment of the matter till Monday.

Sixty-one-year-old Sen had moved the apex court challenging the order of the Chhattisgarh high court, which had rejected his bail plea on February 10.

A professional doctor, who studied at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, Sen has sought bail contending that the trial court has erred in convicting him as there was no substantial evidence against him.

Sen, vice president, 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.

Human rights and social activists have described Sen's conviction and sentence as "politically motivated."