In sentencing Dr Binayak Sen to life imprisonment on charges of sedition, the trial court has cited his routine meetings with jailed Naxalite leader Narayan Sanyal, his attempt to pass on three letters written by Sanyal to unspecified people in Kolkata, and the help he provided to some ?hardcore Naxalites? in opening bank accounts and getting jobs and rented accommodation.
The 92-page order of the second additional district and sessions judge VP Varma gives detailed ?conclusions? and ?reasons? for his judgment awarding life imprisonment to Sen, Sanyal and a Kolkata businessman, Piyush Guha.
According to the prosecution, Guha was arrested by Chhattisgarh Police on May 5, 2007 from near Raipur railway station after he was found to have been moving in a ?suspect manner?. On checking, police recovered some Naxal literature, Rs 49,000 in cash and three handwritten letters two in English?one addressed to ?V? and other to ?P??and one in Bengali. Guha told the police that the letters were written by Sanyal and had been given to him by Sen to be delivered to people in Kolkata.
The order does not say how or when Sanyal gave the letters to Sen and how or when Sen passed it to Guha. The complete contents of the letters are also not mentioned.
Based on the statements of the witnesses, this is what the court has found against Sen:
* Binayak Sen met Sanyal in Raipur prison at least 29 times between May 2006 and April 2007. The court relied on statements of jail superintendent at Raipur jail S K Mishra, Jailor P K S Chauhan and deputy jailor S R Thakur.
* Before this, Sen had arranged a rented accommodation for Sanyal in Raipur, according to a statement by Deepak Chaubey, Sanyal?s landlord.
* Sen received three letters from Sanyal and passed it on to Guha to be delivered to unspecified people in Kolkata. Police said Guha himself revealed this during interrogation. Guha later told the court that his statement was extracted under duress but the court overruled that. One of the letters addressed to ?Dear P? expresses happiness at successful completion of the ninth Congress (a reference to a Naxal meeting in January 2007) and stresses on the need for getting support of more organised and unorganised workers in the revolution.
* During a search at Sen?s house in Raipur, police recovered Maoist literature, a special issue of People?s March containing interviews of Naxal leaders Ganapati and Kishenji, a letter from ?Naxalite? Madan Lal Barkare addressed to ?Comrade Binayak Sen?, one postcard addressed to Sen from Narayan Sen, ten paper cuttings with news of Naxalite activities, and one book on Salwa Judum. A computer CPU and eight CDs were also recovered.
* Sen had helped in finding rented accommodation for ?hardcore Naxalites? Shanker Singh and Amita Srivastava. He had also helped in finding jobs for them.