The Raipur sessions court judgment against civil liberties defender and health activist Binayak Sen has provoked outrage. His two-year long detention had drawn protests from the world over. The only substantial charge against Sen is that he passed on three letters from Narayan Sanyal, an undertrial, suspected -- but not yet proved -- to be a Maoist, to the Maoist leadership. It takes several leaps of imagination, or nasty prejudice, to...

The Gondia police have arrested Sudhir Dhawle (42), Editor of Vidrohi magazine and freelance journalist based in Mumbai, on charges of waging war against the state. He was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. “The charges are the same as those slapped on [rights activist] Binayak Sen,” Mr. Dhawle's lawyer Surendra Gadling told The Hindu. He claimed that the police took Mr. Dhawle into custody on Sunday night itself from...

A. Mobi Singh, editor of the Sanaleibak newspaper, has been arrested by police commandos posing as representatives of a banned organisation. The All-Manipur Working Journalists' Union said in a statement that Mr. Singh received a call from someone claiming to be a member of the banned armed group, the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), on December 28. He wanted to set up a meeting with three members of the union, of which...

Indian law affords Binayak Sen one automatic right to appeal, and another at the discretion of the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, given the visible disparity between the quality of allegations against him and the repercussions, the judgment is sure to provoke a national and international outcry. One thousand three hundred and twenty days after he was first arrested, Binayak Sen has been sentenced to life imprisonment for sedition against the Indian...

A "typographical error" in a Chhattisgarh police affidavit before the Supreme Court could turn the location of a crucial arrest from Station Road to something as different as "Mahindra Hotel". Or so it seems from the controversial Raipur session's court verdict holding human rights activist Binayak Sen guilty of conspiracy to commit sedition. In it's December 24 judgment, the trial court overlooked the improbability of such a drastic change resulting from...