APRIL 17, 2011 // PRESS REPORTS
MAIL TODAY
By Gyanant Singh in New Delhi
THE FAMILY of Binayak Sen and civil rights activists across the country cheered in unison as the jailed doctor was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Friday. The apex court also indicated that the Chhattisgarh trial court verdict that had sentenced Sen to life on charges of sedition on the strength of evidence produced by the prosecution did not inspire confidence.
“ He may be a sympathiser but this does not make him guilty of sedition,” a bench comprising Justice H. S. Bedi and Justice C. K. Prasad said on Friday after taking note of the evidence against Sen.
When state government counsel U. U. Lalit attempted to justify the sedition charge slapped on Sen, Justice Prasad said: “ Mr Lalit, keep in mind, we are a democratic country.” The judges, who seemed to have gone through the records of the case, stopped Sen’s counsel Ram Jethmalani midway and turned towards Lalit for the grounds on which he was opposing bail.
“ What is the evidence that invites sedition? Even if all allegations and the conviction are taken to be correct, why life sentence?” Justice Bedi asked.
The bench ordered suspension of Sen’s sentence till a decision on his appeal pending before the Chhattisgarh High Court. It also left it for the high court to decide the conditions for his release on bail.
Taking note of the fact that the appeal would have to be decided on merits by the high court, the bench refrained from passing any detailed order. “ Lest we should prejudice any party, we are not giving any reasons for our order,” it said.
Though the bench did not record any finding in its order, the observations made by it virtually amounted to questioning the very basis of conviction of Sen under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code ( IPC) for sedition.
Taking the court through evidence against Sen, Lalit pointed out that several pamphlets were recovered from his residence. The pamphlets stressed on the fight against the government by use of force.
Lalit said it was not necessary to prove that Sen was the author of the documents to bring home the charge of sedition. As per a Supreme Court judgment, distribution and circulation of such material also amounts to sedition, he said.
“ The worst that is against him is the possession ( of pamphlets and literature). You have not pointed to any action ( on his part)… All kinds of documents are circulated and that may come to us. Does this make one guilty?” Justice Bedi asked.
“ If ( Mahatma) Gandhi’s autobiography is found in somebody’s house, does he become a Gandhian?” Justice Prasad added.
L ALIT then submitted that Sen had visited Naxalite leader Narayan Sanyal in Bilaspur jail more than 30 times. Justice Bedi stressed that the meetings would have taken place in the presence of jail officers.
Jethmalani intervened to point out that jailors had admitted their presence during the meetings.
“ He may be meeting hundreds of people. Even after taking into account all your arguments, does this not make a case for grant of bail?” Justice Bedi asked.
Finding it difficult to convince the bench, Lalit suggested that the court may expedite hearing on appeal rather than granting bail. “ There is no presumption of innocence. There is a conviction,” he said.
Justice Bedi reminded Lalit that the court had suspended the sentences of many of his clients.
Not giving up, Lalit stressed that the court on several occasions had refused to suspend sentences in corruption cases where the sentence was much less.
“ If this had been a Prevention of Corruption Act case, we would have refused relief,” Justice Bedi said.
“ Sen is a sympathiser and nothing beyond that.” Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, also representing the state government, said Sen was not merely a Maoist sympathiser but had helped them seek a house on rent, open bank accounts and even get a job.
But failing to get his point across, Rohatgi suggested that Sen be barred from entering Chhattisgarh while he was on bail. He said a similar order had been passed against former Gujarat home minister Amit Shah. The court pointed out that in the case of Shah, investigation was going on and here the trial was over.
Earlier, the hearing began with Jethmalani contending that the high court, while rejecting bail, had gone by the colonial concept of sedition which was no longer good law. He said the charge against his client was that he was addressed by the Naxals as comrade, possessed material propagating Naxal ideology and met Sanyal.
“ Sen is not involved in any kind of violence nor has he fed anyone to resort to violence. Literature is available at everybody’s home and I’ll tell you there is much more dangerous literature at my house. The mere possession of literature does not make one a Maoist,” he told the court.
“ I must confess this is one of the cases where I am personally very happy about what has happened in the Supreme Court. It almost establishes a matter of great principle of democracy that everybody has the right to exercise his right to freedom of speech,” the lawyer said after the verdict.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh said in Raipur on Friday: “ We respect the Supreme Court’s decision. It has only granted Sen bail. The pending legal process will continue in the high court at Bilaspur. Whatever the final verdict be, we will respect that decision too.” The BJP, too, toed a similar line. “ We respect the judgment.
It is part of the legal process,” BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Sen’s wife Ilina said after the verdict: “ It’s a very emotional moment and I am relieved. The judgment by the trial court was unfortunate… But I have now started breathing again and am really feeling good.” Daughter Aparajita added: “ Our family was shattered and it was a tough journey with Baba inside jail.
This judgment is the result of everybody’s hard work. I am looking forward to meeting him.” Sen was arrested in Raipur on May 14, 2007, for his alleged links with the Maoists. He later got bail from the Supreme Court on May 25, 2009. On December 24 last year, the sessions court in Raipur convicted him.
With inputs from Sahar Khan in Raipur and agencies
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