Finally, the Supreme Court has granted Binayak Sen bail and he has been released by the Chhattisgarh government. But while his getting bail is welcome news, nobody is talking about the Chhattisgarh government which charged him with sedition and put him in jail. Our democracy should be judged by its ability to prevent wrong things from happening rather than by its ability to fix things much after they happen.
Shahidur Rashid Talukdar,Lubbock
The Supreme Court has done justice to Dr. Sen. But the fact that he remained in jail without any proof of the charge levelled against him was unjust. There is no doubt that many people would have benefited from Dr. Sen's services had he not been arrested. A committee should be set up to get to the bottom of the case and stern action taken against those who brought false charges against him.
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The Supreme Court has, no doubt, given many Indians reason to smile. But the difference in the verdict of the Chhattisgarh trial court and the Supreme Court's observation that no case of sedition is made out against Dr. Sen point to some serious differences in reasoning within the judiciary. How can two courts look at a case so differently?
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The Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh must stop harassing Dr. Sen and his family. Until he and the Chhattisgarh regime are brought to account for their action, justice will not have been served.
Fil Munas,Pittsburg
The Chhattisgarh trial court convicted Dr. Sen of sedition for just sympathising with Maoists and possessing Maoist literature. The sedition law is draconian and certainly needs to be revisited to stop similar illegal convictions.
V. Neha,Visakhapatnam
A dissenting voice must have its place in a democracy. Dr. Sen's actions in no way caused subversion of the Constitution. The sedition laws are anachronistic and outdated. They are nothing more than a tool for harassing people with dissenting voices. The actions of the law-enforcement agencies and the trial court in Chhattisgarh clearly amounted to denial of freedom of speech and expression.
Arun Anand,Tiruvalla
I am not a pessimist but I am extremely worried about the Binayak Sen episode. The common man does not enjoy the kind of support Dr. Sen enjoys. Many similar cases, I am sure, go unreported and many unsung heroes die. Everybody cannot move the Supreme Court or afford to hire quality lawyers.
Puneet Gupta,Patiala