Thaindian News

New Delhi, April 15 (IANS) The following is the timeline of the Binayak Sen case:

May 14, 2007: Binayak Sen arrested in Bilaspur on charges of carrying messages between Piyush Guha, a businessman, and Narayan Sanyal, a Maoist ideologue.

May 15: Sen remanded to judicial custody.

May 25: Chhattisgarh government claims Sen is a threat to state security. Bail is not granted.

May-June: Human rights activists rally across India in Sen’s support.

Aug 3: Police file charge sheets against Sen under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Satyabhama Dubey.

Dec 10: Two-judge Supreme Court bench denies Sen’s bail petition.

Dec 31: Sen awarded the R.R. Keithan Gold Medal by the Indian Academy of Social Sciences in recognition of “his outstanding contribution to the advancement of science of Nature-Man-Society for improving the quality of life of the poor, the downtrodden and the oppressed people of Chhattisgarh”.

March 15-April 11, 2008: Sen kept in solitary confinement. Prison authorities claim it is for his security.

April 21: Sen awarded Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights by the Global Health Council.

May 30: Trial begins in Raipur.

Aug 11: Second bail petition filed in the Chhattisgarh High Court in Bilaspur.

Aug 14: First hearing on the bail. Hearing adjourned.

Dec 2: Bail petition dismissed.

Dec 3: Supplementary charge sheet filed, listing 47 additional witnesses.

May 4, 2009: Supreme Court issues notice to the Chhattisgarh government questioning Sen’s detention and demanding its response in two weeks. The court also asks for the best medical care to be provided for Sen’s heart condition.

May 25: Sen released on bail by Supreme Court vacation bench of Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Deepak Verma.

Nov 23-26: Trial resumes in Raipur sessions court.

Late August-early September, 2010: Supreme Court directs the Chhattisgarh government to complete presenting its evidence against Sen by end-September.

Sep 28: Prosecution concludes presenting evidence.

Nov 25-26: Defence presents 12 witnesses along with supporting documents.

Dec 24: Raipur sessions court finds Sen, Sanyal and Guha guilty of sedition and conspiracy and sentences all three to life imprisonment.

Jan 24, 2011: Sen’s bail application hearing begins in Chhattisgarh High Court. Ram Jethmalani opens the arguments for Sen, terming the trial court verdict “a case of no evidence”.

Jan 25: Another lawyer, Surendra Singh, argues in favour of Sen, telling the court that “documents were planted by Chhattisgarh Police to establish Sen’s link to Maoists”.

Feb 9: The high court reserves its orders after prosecution counsel Kishore Bhaduri concludes his arguments, saying “seized documents were sufficient enough for not suspending the sentence awarded to Sen by the trial court”.

Feb 10: A division bench of Justice T.P. Sharma and Justice R.L. Jhanwar rejects Sen’s bail application.

April 11: Supreme Court division bench of justices H.S. Bedi and C.K. Prasad adjourns the hearing after the Chhattisgarh government seeks more time to argue its case.

April 15: Supreme Court grants bail to Binayak Sen.