Calling it a “fraudulent and politically-motivated judgment,” the Forum of Artists, Cultural Activists and Intellectuals condemned here on Monday the life imprisonment given to activist Binayak Sen by a court in Chhattisgarh and demanded his “unconditional release.” Dr. Sen, Maoist ideologue Narayan Sanyal and city-based businessman Pijush Guha were sentenced to life on December 24 by a Raipur sessions court, which found them guilty of criminal conspiracy to commit sedition under...

The testimony of a cloth merchant appears to have sealed the case against Binayak Sen, the doctor and civil rights activist sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of criminal conspiracy and sedition. Sen had been accused of passing seditious letters from jailed Maoist ideologue Narayan Sanyal to Piyush Guha, a Kolkata businessman. Both Sanyal and Guha were handed down life terms along with Sen. A close reading of the 92-page...

The Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) has termed the prosecution and conviction of human rights activist Binayak Sen on charges of sedition a blow to democracy. “We are deeply disturbed by the judgment of the Raipur Additional District and Sessions Court, convicting Dr. Binayak Sen on charges of sedition, treason and conspiracy against the state and sentencing him to life imprisonment. We believe the trial of the eminent and committed human...

West Bengal businessman says he was illegally detained and interrogated for five days before his arrest was staged on May 6, 2007 Defence maintains that all evidence was planted by Chhattisgarh police Discrepancy in SLP is a typo, says investigating officer S.S. Rajpoot At 10.45 a.m. on May 1, 2007 Pijush Guha checked into the Mahindra Hotel here and vanished. The hotel register indicates that he checked out at 8.45 p.m. the same...

A pair of burly hands affixes several lengths of masking tape to an open brown bag. Then the same hands are shown to belong to an officer of the Chhattisgarh police; one hand holds the bag open as the other riffles through the bag's contents. “This is what we have taken,” says a voice in Hindi. When the police leave the house of Binayak Sen, an award-winning physician and human rights...