Chhattisgarh high court reserves order on Dr Binayak Sen's bail plea

The Chhattisgarh High Court today reserved its order on the bail plea of rights activist Binayak Sen even as the clamour for his release got louder.

The state government is opposing the release of Sen on bail on the grounds of his alleged links with Maoist ideologue Narayan Sanyal.

Sen, who was sentenced for life by the Raipur sessions  court on sedition charges over his links with Maoists, has been lodged in a Raipur jail since 24 December.

Meanwhile, news channel CNN-IBN quoted BJP MP and senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani as saying that the prosecution of Binayak Sen is ill advised and unsustainable and that the motive is to see Binayak Sen damned.

He said by opening a new front against Sen through an alleged request by an advocate seeking permission to intervene in the Binayak Sen case, the authorities are trying to pressurise the judiciary "for a totally obnoxious motive."

"That motive is that somebody is interested in seeing that Binayak Sen is damned," he asserted.

The Binayak Sen case has attracted international media attention, and a group of 40 Nobel laureates from 12 countries, in an open letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have urged that the Dr Sen be released. (See: Free Binayak Sen, 40 Nobel laureates urge PM)/ (See: Chhattisgarh HC throws out Binayak Sen's bail plea)