SC to hear Binayak Sen's bail plea on March 11

New Delhi (PTI) The Supreme Court of India will
hear on March 11 the bail plea of civil rights activist
Binayak Sen, sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of
sedition and links with Naxalites.
Sen (61) has challenged the order of the High Court of
central Indian state Chhattisgarh which had rejected his bail
plea on February 10.
A professional doctor and pass out of the prestigious
Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, 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 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.
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 Sen as politically
motivated and had said, "The whole case is nothing but
political persecution."
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.