By IANS
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Friday issued notice to the Chhattisgarh government on the bail plea of prominent human rights activist Binayak Sen who has been jailed in the state for his alleged Maoist links.
A bench of judges Ashok Bhan and V.S. Sirpurkar issued notice after former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee contended in court that Sen had been arrested on false and fictitious charges.
Sen, an erstwhile faculty member of the prestigious Centre for Social Medicine and community Health at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and the vice president of the Chhattisgarh unit of the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), was arrested May 14 by the state police for allegedly acting as a courier for the Maoists.
Sen, who is also a doctor, was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act.
His arrest followed the recovery of some letters relating to the Maoist movement from one Piyush Guha. The police said the letters established Sen as a courier for the Maoist organisations.
The letters were allegedly given to Sen by Maoist leader Narayan Sanyal, whom Sen used to visit in the jail as part of his civil rights activities.
A sessions court, and later the Chhattisgarh High Court, rejected the bail applications of the PUCL activist following which he approached the apex court.