SC notice to Chhatisgarh on Binayak Sen’s bail plea
11 Mar 2011
The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Chhattisgarh government on a petition by rights activist Binayak Sen seeking bail and a stay on his life imprisonment imposed by a sessions court for links with Maoists.
A Supreme Court 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.
Sen, 61, had moved the apex court challenging the order of the high court, which had rejected his bail plea on 10 February.
A professional doctor from the prestigious 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 of People's Union for 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.