Civil rights activist Binayak Sen gets bail

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Binayak Sen, a doctor accused by authorities of links with Maoist rebels, in a high-profile case that saw a host of Nobel laureates call for his freedom. Sen, 59, was jailed about two years ago in Raipur, capital of Chhattisgarh on accusations he passed notes from an imprisoned Maoist leader.

Chhattisgarh is one of the centres of a Maoist insurgency that stretches across a swathe of eastern and central India.Sen, who has won international fame for running health clinics for poor villagers in this tribal region, denies the charges. He has also been critical of government-backed tribal militia that were formed to battle Maoist insurgents.

Lower courts had previously turned down his bail plea. But on Monday Supreme Court Justices Markandeya Katju and Deepak Verma granted bail to Sen. The prosecution did not contest his bail plea. Last year, the Global Health Council, an association of health organisations and workers, announced he was the winner of the 2008 Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights. After that 22 Nobel prize-winning scientists appealed to the Indian government to release Sen and let him travel to Washington D.C. to collect the award.

The Nobel laureates spanned around three decades of winners, including economists, chemists and doctors.They said the laws under which Sen had been jailed fell short of international human rights standards. Maoist rebels say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and landless. They regularly kill policemen and attack government establishments.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the four-decade-old Maoist rebellion as the single biggest threat to India's internal security. It has killed thousands of people. Human rights groups had launched a high-decibel campaign, including on social network websites and through emails, to demand Sen's release."I am very happy that my personal ordeal is over, the judiciary has stood up for what is correct," Ilina Sen, the accused doctor's wife,told reporters.

CPI seeks withdrawal of all cases against Binayak Sen
Welcoming the bail granted by Supreme Court to prominent civil rights activist Binayak Sen, CPI today asked the government to set him free by withdrawing all cases against him."Foisting of cases against such eminent persons is a shame on our democracy. The time has now come for the government to withdraw all cases against him and he must be set free immediately," party National Secretary D Raja told here.
The Apex court today ordered the release of Sen, who was lodged in a Chhattisgarh jail since two years. A prominent PUCL leader, Sen was arrested by the Chhattisgarh police for allegedly colluding with certain naxalite leaders, a charge denied by the activist. Raja also demanded dismantling of the private anti-Naxal army Salwa Judum, saying even Home Minister P Chidambaram had earlier admitted that this outfit was a "non-state actor".(mediavigil)