A delegation of European Union observers was today allowed by Chhattisgarh High Court to witness proceedings on rights activist Binayak Sen’s appeal against his life term in a case of sedition, which his lawyer and BJP MP Ram Jethmalani termed “political persecution”.
When Sen’s appeal came up for hearing, a division bench of Justices T.P. Sharma and R.L. Jhanwar considered the reference on the EU team’s proposal made by the state government and decided to allow the eight-member team to attend the proceedings.
Appearing for 61-year-old Sen, who had been sentenced by a sessions court to life imprisonment for colluding with Maoists to fight the state, Jethmalani told the high court: “My client is absolutely innocent. There is no case. The whole case is nothing but political persecution and legally it is a case of no evidence.”