High Court turns down Sen’s bail application

Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh: The Chhattisgarh High Court yesterday rejected the bail application of human rights activist Binayak Sen, who was sentenced to life in prison for sedition and his links with the Maoists.

The division bench of Justice T.P. Sharma and Justice R.L. Jhanwar pronounced the judgment in a packed court room here, some 110km from the state capital Raipur. Sen's family and supporters called the decision "disappointing" and vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Sen is in a central jail in Raipur after he was sentenced by a trial court on December 24 for sedition and for his links with Maoist ideologue Narayan Sanyal. The court also sentenced Sanyal and a Kolkata-based businessman Piyush Guha to life. Sen was accused of acting as a courier between Sanyal and Guha.

Supporters

"The application filed by the accused is dismissed," ruled the division bench in a court room packed with rights activists, representatives of NGOs and Sen's family members and friends. The bench also turned down the bail application of Guha. "The high court has largely agreed with my argument in its 20-page judgment that Sen has strong links to Maoists. I am happy that the court dismissed the bail application," prosecution counsel and additional advocate general Kishore Bhaduri, who appeared on behalf of Chhattisgarh government, told reporters.

The trial court verdict that sent Sen, 61, to a life term was widely slammed by human right activists in India and abroad, who say he was victimised by Chhattisgarh's Bharatiya Janata Party government for highlighting human rights abuse. Sen's wife Ilina Sen called the court decision "very disappointing".

"It's very disappointing but I am not going to stop now, [I] will approach the Supreme Court because I have no other options," Ilina said.

Social activist Swami Agnivesh called the high court ruling "extremely sad".