Describing the judgement convicting rights activist Binayak Sen for sedition as ridiculous and unacceptable, former chief justice of Delhi High Court Rajender Sachar on December 27 said that civil liberties of people were in danger and there is need to act now. “There can’t be a greater nonsensical judgement than this. I am ashamed belonging to the judiciary that such a ridiculous judgement was delivered,” Sachar, former President of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), was reported as saying.
Sen, a paediatrician by training and Vice President of PUCL, had been convicted for life for acting as “courier” for Naxal ideologue Narayan Sanyal, who was in jail, by carrying his messages and letters to the underground Maoists. “Sen was working since long time for tribal rights in Raipur of Chhatisgarh, which is strong unit of PUCL. He had met Sanyal 30 times while the latter was in jail in presence of jail authorities. There is no way that there could be any secret talks with Sanyal,” Sachar said. “What we need to understand is that are we creating an atmosphere of intolerance in the country,” he said.
“Today it is Sen. It could be anybody else tomorrow. Whoever speaks against government would be framed into some charges and put in jail. Therefore, we believe that civil liberties are in grave danger and we need to initiate action now,” Sachar added.