By IANS,
New Delhi : Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily Friday said the Chhattisgarh government should have applied its mind “objectively” before bringing a sedition case against social activist Binayak Sen.
“This is a real eye-opener. Chhattisgarh government should have applied their mind objectively, properly and without any prejudices and given an opinion,” Moily told CNN-IBN, after the Supreme Court granted bail to Sen on grounds that mere possession of banned documents did not prove sedition.
Moily added that the state government should have taken more care before starting the legal process. “When you take up a matter with the judiciary, or highest court of the land, all the more they should take more care,” said Moily.
The Supreme Court said that even if the state government’s contention that Sen was in the possession of banned material and was involved in its circulation was true, it did not justify the charge of sedition.
Sen, 61, who was given life imprisonment on charges of sedition and links with Maoists, was in a jail in the Chhattisgarh capital Raipur. He had challenged the Feb 10 order of the Chhattisgarh High Court rejecting his bail plea.