SC grants bail to Binayak Sen

The bail granted by the Supreme Court to Dr Binayak Sen Friday is likely to be activated only on Monday.

Sen is presently locked inside central jail, here, after ever since he was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition and links with Naxalites.

According to Sen’s counsel Mahendra Dubey, certified copies of the court order would be available by Friday evening. Since Saturday and Sunday are holidays, formalities to activate the bail are likely to be completed on Monday.

The Supreme Court order would be produced before the trial court where bail bond would be furnished by Sen. After completing the process, the court would issue ‘release warrant’ to the jail authorities of Raipur, the legal authorities said.

Sen was arrested in Bilaspur on charges of passing letters from jailed Naxal ideologue Narayan Sanyal and Kolkata-based businessman Piyush Guha on 14 May, 2007.

On 25 May, 2009, he was granted bail by the Supreme Court vacation bench of Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Deepak Verma.

On 24 December, 2010, additional district and sessions judge of Raipur BP Verma sentenced Sen, Sanyal and Guha to life imprisonment after finding them guilty of sedition and conspiracy.

The bail plea of Sen was rejected by the Chhattisgarh High Court, following which the rights activist moved to the Supreme Court. The apex court today granted bail to Sen.Chhattisgarh government said that it respected the decision of the Supreme Court. “We have always respected the court’s verdict and bail is only one of the processes as the legal battle in the case will continue,” chief minister Raman Singh said.

Singh added that the state would continue to go with its policies to safeguard democracy and fight against the Naxal menace.