SC grants bail to Binayak Sen

The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to civil rights activist Binayak Sen, sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition and links with Naxalites.

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

A professional doctor and pass out of the prestigious Christian Medical College, Vellore, Sen had 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 was submitted that Sen had 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.

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.

Sen's conviction and sentence had led to outrage in many quarters, including international bodies of human rights. Family members of Sen, PUCL activists, and two members of the European Union were present in the high court during the hearing. The EU had earlier sought the high court's permission to attend the hearings.