COMMENTARY

the same charges: that of having con- The Trial of Binayak Sen spired at any of six different places (sic) to wage war against the state, and of being members of or contributed funds to or Jyoti Punwani a­ssisted the work of an illegal organisation.

Human rights activist Binayak he trial of one of the most celebrated Evidence? Sen spent two years in jail before political prisoners in recent times What was the evidence to support these being granted bail. Charged with Thas just ended. Going through the charges? The prosecution alleged that Sen trial proceedings makes one laugh at the had passed on letters from Narayan Sanyal, sedition, waging war against kind of evidence the Chhattisgarh police whom he used to meet in Raipur Central the Indian state, as well as have managed to gather against Binayak Jail, to Piyush Guha, to be sent “out”. being a Maoist supporter, both Sen; but the human rights acti­vist spent two These letters were allegedly found on under normal laws and under years in jail on the basis of this evidence, Guha when he was arrested. However, charged with sedition, waging war against jailor after jailor testified that there was the Chhattisgarh Special Public the State, as well as being a Maoist sup- no way Sanyal could have handed over Security Act and the Unlawful porter, both under normal laws and under anything to Sen in jail because Sanyal’s Activities Act, the evidence has the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security visitors were not only searched before and been full of discrepancies and Act (CSPSA) and the Unlawful Activities after meeting him, but all Sanyal’s meet- (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The international ings with visitors were held under strict contradictions on material points. clamour for his release, with Nobel Laure- supervision. Not only could the jailors see The trial has just concluded at the ates joining in, had no effect on either our Sen and Sanyal during the meeting, they sessions court in Raipur. highly educated prime minister or the per- could also hear their conversation, which son who appointed him, the supposedly they testified, centred on the 74-year-old liberal Congress Party president who sur- Sanyal’s health, his case, and his family. rounds herself with some of the country’s When asked if they had been pulled up for leading intellectuals. Even the Supreme carelessness in monitoring Sanyal, the jail Court rejected his bail application the first staff said no. Two jailors were declared time, with no reasons being given. hostile by the prosecution. Binayak Sen made news when he was in The prosecution could not prove that jail, but soon after he was released on bail Sen ever met Guha. The hotel owner and by the Supreme Court (again, no reasons manager, in whose hotels the police al- given) he faded away from media focus. leged the two would meet, told the court But his trial continued. Had it been report- that they had never seen Sen or anyone ed regularly, the country would have come to meet Guha. The prosecution de- known the nature of the evidence against clared them hostile. Thus the triangle him, and also about the ordinary men and sought to be established by the prosecu- women who stood up in court and insisted tion – of Sen as the link between Sanyal the police version was wrong. The com- and Guha – could not be established. plete blackout of the trial throws light on It could be argued that witnesses normally the functioning of the Chhattisgarh media, turn hostile in cases against Naxalites, which had gone to town when Sen was being too scared of the latter to depose arrested, proclaiming in banner headlines against them. However, in Chhattisgarh’s his guilt by calling him a Naxali daakiya cities, there is little evidence of Naxalite (Naxalite postman). terror. On the contrary, be it Raipur or There is one more aspect of this episode Dantewada, this state has seen members that needs to be highlighted: Sen’s co- of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and accused, the alleged “hardcore Naxalite” the opposition Congress gang up to boot Narayan Sanyal, and businessman Piyush out anyone suspected of being a Naxalite This article was written before the judgment of Guha, were denied bail and remained in sympathiser, even Gandhians and scientists. the sessions court, Raipur. custody all this time. The evidence against The police have of course taken the lead Jyoti Punwani ([email protected]) is a them did not inspire confidence either. in targeting those they label “Naxalite Mumbai-based freelance journalist and human What were the specific charges against sympathisers”. They did not allow aca- rights activist. Sen? All three accused in the case faced demics Nandini Sundar and Ujjwal Singh to

Economic & Political Weekly EPW december 25, 2010 vol xlv no 52 21 COMMENTARY meet people in Dantewada last December, substan­tiate its allegation, Sen’s lawyer ­adivasis in a village adjoining the forest. nor did they let an all-women’s team reach Surendra Singh asked for permission to play This set of CDs made by Ajay was seized Dantewada to join Gandhian Himanshu the video recording of the entire seizure, from Sen’s house. Kumar’s peace march around the same shot by a professional videographer hired Sen’s alleged Naxalite links were sought time. If any terror exists in Chhattisgarh’s by Sen’s wife Ilina, with the permission of to be established through other material cities, it is the terror of the police. the court. Summoned by Sen as a defence seized from his house – especially his com- Hence the ordinary men and women witness, the videographer told the court puter, wherein names of various persons who disproved the police story against Sen that he had seen the police take away the were found, whom the police said were in court – two hoteliers and one school seized material in an open bag. However, Naxalites. The computer had details of principal – were unlikely to have been act- the judge B P Verma refused to allow the payments made to those working for ing under fear of the Naxalites. And what video to be screened at that stage, even Rupantar, the non-governmental organi- of the jailors? What motivated them to after the special public prosecutor (SPP) sation set up by Binayak Sen and his deny the police version? challenged the authenticity of the CD. wife Ilina that works on issues of health However, that same afternoon, the and biodiversity. Fabricated Evidence? same judge allowed the SPP to play a CD In his testimony, inspector Jagrit described The prosecution had one more weapon which, claimed the prosecution, showed Rupantar as a Naxalite organisation run against Sen, a “proof” that needed no Sen talking to Naxalites in the jungle. In by the Sens, which did “urban network- eyewitnesses to validate it: a letter dated the witness box at that time was another ing” for the Naxalites. The Malti and Vijay 1 December 2005, ostensibly written by defence witness, documentary maker Ajay mentioned in the computer, said Jagrit, Naxalites thanking him for his services in T G, who had shot this particular video. were the same “Malti” and “Vijay” known to Chhattisgarh and hoping for similar serv- Like the videographer, Ajay too main- the police as Naxalites. An entry “Vijay-non ices in Orissa. This unsigned letter, in the tained that he needed to see the CD before AA budget” was interpreted by Jagrit as form of a computer printout, made a sud- he could identify it. The judge allowed it being “codewords used by Naxalites’’. The den appearance when a prosecution wit- to be played, but refused to see it himself. defence explained Malti Jadhav and Vijay ness was deposing, a man who claimed to However, the CD could not be played and had worked for Rupantar, and that “non have been called by the police to witness hence remained unidentified. AA budget” meant “non-Action Aid budget”. their search of Sen’s house. Ajay T G told the court that he had Incidentally, as pointed out by the defence, Unlike the other documents seized from filmed Sen and advocate Holaram Prajap- Rupantar continues to get funds from both the house, this letter had neither Sen’s ati talking to adivasis during a 2004 the central and the state governments! signature nor that of the investigating ­People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Then there is the case of Amita Srivastav, officer, B B Rajpoot, who was part of the investigation into the killing of three declared to be an absconding Naxalite by police search party, on it. It had instead only the signatures of the two witnesses the police claim were present during the NEW search. It is neither mentioned in the list NEW of documents seized from Sen’s house EPW 5-Year CD-ROM 2004-08 on a Single Disk (seizure memo) nor in the final report pre- sented with the challan; nor in the list The digital versions of Economic and Political Weekly for 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 given to the court’s maalkhana where all are now available on a single disk. The CD-ROM contains the complete text of 261 issues seized material is stored. “I have no know­ published from 2004 to 2008 and comes equipped with a powerful search, tools to help organise research and utilities to make your browsing experience productive. The contents of the CD-ROM ledge who found it or from where’’, the are organised as in the print edition, with articles laid out in individual sections in each issue. town inspector, B S Jagrit told the court, maintaining however, that it was found in With its easy-to-use features, the CD-ROM will be a convenient resource for social scientists, researchers and executives in government and non-government organisations, social and political Sen’s house. Both he and the investigation activists, students, corporate and public sector executives and journalists. officer had the same explanation as to why it had neither Rajpoot’s nor Sen’s signa- Price for 5 year CD-ROM (in INDIA) ture: “Either we forgot, or this paper got Individuals - Rs 1500 Institutions - Rs 2500 overlooked because it was stuck to some other document seized during the search”. To order the CD-ROM send a bank draft payable at Mumbai in favour of Economic and Political But how come the witnesses signed it? Weekly. The CD can also be purchased on-line using a credit card through a secure payment gateway at epw.in To prevent planting of evidence, all the material seized from an accused’s house Any queries please email: [email protected] is supposed to be sealed in the presence Circulation Manager, of witnesses before being taken away. Economic and Political Weekly The prosecution claimed this was done. 320-321, A to Z Industrial Estate, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 013, India The defence alleged it was not. And to

22 december 25, 2010 vol xlv no 52 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY the police. A woman by the same name More than one policeman testified that What is interesting also is the way po- was recommended by Ilina Sen to a local PUCL members Sen, his wife Ilina and licemen deposed about Naxalites – giving school which employed her. However, then general secretary Rajendra Sail, long accounts of their violent acts and the when shown a photograph said to be of participated in meetings with Naxalites terror they create, their lack of belief in the absconding Amita, the school princi- in Chhattisgarh’s jungles. Under cross- any law and their desire to overthrow the pal said she was not the person employed examination, they admitted this was just state at the point of a gun. Under cross- by her. The principal was declared hostile. hearsay. One policeman said that local examination, these policemen admitted villagers had told him this, but he had not they had neither read Naxalite literature, Hum PUCL Ko Dekh Lenge recorded their statements because it nor interacted with any of them. The prosecution made a big deal about would have been dangerous for them! What could be the reason for such indif- Sen’s visits to Sanyal in jail. But in cross- ference? Did the police feel the accused examination by Sen’s counsel, Mahindra Discrepancies and Contradictions would not be able to get good lawyers? Or, Dubey, the jailors admitted that all appli- What is surprising is that in a case that that since the trial would not attract media cations to meet Sanyal were made by attracted international attention and a trial attention, these discrepancies would never Sen as a PUCL office-bearer, on the PUCL at which foreign observers were present come to light outside the court? Like every- letterhead, and that these meetings were (when Sen was in jail), the police per- where else, in Chhattisgarh too, the police allowed only after the local police had formed as sloppily as they do in any rou- seem to have been pretty confident that cleared them. tine case. The evidence was full of dis- the press would not stray from the brief- Sanyal was not the only prisoner in crepancies and contradictions on material ings given to it. whom Sen seems to have had an inordi- points, be it the letters alleged to have What is frightening is that on such flimsy nate interest. A prisoner from Balaghat been found on Piyush Guha’s person (no evidence, the accused were deprived of jail wrote directly to Sen for help; Sen mention of them have been made in the their liberty for three years (Sen for two gave the letter to the local press. The arrest panchnama), or the time and place years). Said Sen’s advocate Mahendra eveninger Chhattisgarh published it prom- of his arrest (the affidavit filed in reply to Dubey, who cross-examined most of the inently. When a prisoner from Bilaspur his bail application in the Supreme Court, witnesses: “With the most important pros- Central Jail sent an ­appeal to the Supreme mentioned it as Mahindra Hotel, the ecution evidence having been demolished, Court, the jail autho­rities sent a copy to charge sheet in the case mentioned it as what’s left? Just a list of supposedly in- Sen as PUCL general secretary. This was a the busy station road in Raipur), the arrest criminating documents seized from his month before his arrest. of Narayan Sanyal (two policemen testi- house? Going by that, all scholars would PUCL, of which Sen is now currently na- fied he had been arrested in Bhadracha- go to jail.’’ Advocate Surendra Singh, Sen’s tional vice-president, and state president, lam, but a prosecution witness told the senior counsel, who concluded the de- has played no small part in the proceed- court he had been arrested from his house, fence arguments, saw this case as “an at- ings. I O Rajpoot stated in court that PUCL only to admit in cross-examination that tempt to stifle any form of dissent’’. worked for the Naxalites. Sen was arrest- this was hearsay), or the SPP’s description That attempt seems to have succeeded; ed in May 2007. As far back as January of the Indian Social Institute as Pakistan’s few fact-finding teams have been allowed to 2006, then Chhattisgarh Director General ISI. Bill books and registers were seized enter Dantewada in the last year, especially of Police O P Rathore had declared to the from the two hotels in which Guha was after Operation Green Hunt was launched. press: Hum PUCL ko dekh lenge (we will said to have stayed, and remained in the Even established political parties such as take care of PUCL). That was a month after possession of the police since. Yet, in one the Communist Party of India (CPI) are the Chhattisgarh PUCL, under its general of the registers, an entry was made on a being targeted. Their leading activists are secretary Binayak Sen, had investigated date after it was seized from the hotel. being arrested on false charges; when they the brutal displacement of adivasis under The CD in which Sen is supposed to be organise protest rallies the adivasis going Salwa Judum, the state-backed vigilante talking to Naxalites should have been a to these rallies are beaten, as happened in movement that has drawn the Supreme crucial piece of evidence for the prose­ November. More such conduct will leave Court’s disapproval. cution. Yet, I O Rajpoot admitted that the field open to the police and the Maoists. On 2 December 2005, PUCL released its he had neither investigated who made But hope exists. Lawyers such as Sudha preliminary report of a joint fact-finding the CD, nor did he know which village Bharadwaj continue fighting at the local done in Dantewada, with other human it featured. level, and at the Supreme Court, Nandini rights groups. It was an indictment of the Take the articles seized from Sen’s house. Sundar and ex-CPI MLA Manish Kunjam Chhattisgarh administration’s role in setting Those in the possession of the prosecution, have not given up. The very fact that up and running Salwa Judum camps, and produced in court, had the signatures of Binayak Sen, Narayan Sanyal and Piyush the havoc this had wrought on the lives of Sen, inspector Rajpoot, and two police Guha could get lawyers who demolished the adivasis there. All through 2006, PUCL witnesses. Xerox copies of these docu- the prosecution’s version, in the capital of statements against Salwa Judum and ments were sent to Sen – but, they did not a state where human rights is a dirty against the newly-enacted CSPSA were have the signatures of the two witnesses. word, is proof that the State has not made published in the local press. What does this imply? cowards of all of us.

Economic & Political Weekly EPW december 25, 2010 vol xlv no 52 23