Excerpts from Judge B P Varma's verdict,against Binayak Sen and two others,translated from the Hindi by Ashutosh Bhardwaj. ARRESTS 4. The prosecutions case in brief is that on 6 May 2007,following the orders of the SP,Raipur,a message was sent through the police control room,Raipur,to all police stations that SHOs concerned will frisk and inspect suspicious persons,suspected vehicles,hotels,lodges,inns,restaurants in their areas. Following the directive,a team of Ganj-Raipur police station under SHO B S Jagrit went out on a patrol on 6 May 2007. Around 4.10 pm they spotted the accused Piyush Guha rushing towards Raipur railway station. Naxali literature and periodicals were found inside his bag. After he failed to give a satisfactory reply,he was brought to Ganj station,where he was thoroughly questioned and his blue-black bag was inspected,in which besides the Naxali literature mentioned above,two periodicals related to Naxal support and programmes,Prabhat Patrika and three handwritten letters,two in English and one in Bengali,were found. The letters were addressed to another Naxali leader and were written encouraging terror and Naxal activities. An amount of Rs 49,000 was also recovered from Guha. During subsequent investigation,Guha said he had received the three letters from accused Binayak Sen. During investigation it was revealed that the letters related to Naxal activities were given to Sen in jail by imprisoned accused Narayan Sanyal; these were handed over by Sen to Guha to be mailed to secret code numbers mentioned in the letters. EVIDENCE 5. During investigation and a search of Sens home,a postcard written by Sanyal to Sen,a letter by Naxal commander Madan Barkade imprisoned in Central Jail,Bilaspur,to Sen addressing him as Comrade,(and) eight CDs containing the conversation between Sen and women and children in villages of Salwa Judum and Narayanpur were seized. besides a letter written in English,a booklet containing objectionable articles related to banned Naxal groups,and a CPU. During investigation it was found that Naxal Narayan Sanyal,who is a member of the politburo in the biggest Maoist-Naxal organisation,committed violent Naxal activities and sedition during his stay in jail with the support of Sen and Guha,and Sanyal (was involved in) violent activities and gathering money by spreading Naxalism in urban and plains areas with the support of Guha and Sen . accused Sen. was arrested through a production warrant. CHARGESHEET 6. The chargesheet was registered by the Chief Judicial Magistrate,Raipur,Rajneesh Srivastava,under Sections 121 (A),124 (A) with 120 (B) of IPC; Sections 8(1),8(2),8(3),8(5) of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Safety Act; and Sections 10(A),20,21,38 (2) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,1967. The case was on 24 August 2007 handed over to Sessions Court,Raipur,which transferred it to (the court of) Additional Sessions Judge (fast track court) on 5 September 2007. DEFENCE 8. The accused claimed innocence and said they were falsely implicated in the case. Sen,Guha and Sanyal have given separate contentions in their defence. a. Guha: He says he was visiting Raipur in connection with his bidi leaves business. On 1 May he visited Raipur before the bidi season began,and stayed at Mahindra Hotel,from where the police caught him,blindfolded him and kept him at an undisclosed place for six days. On 6 May 2007,the police forced him to sign on some papers and framed a false case. He did not know Sen and Sanyal and had a return ticket to Kolkata for May 2. b. Sen: He is an MBBS doctor and a member of the PUCL. When PUCL members were protesting against the police atrocities on innocent villagers after branding them Naxals,top police officers threatened to implicate him in a false case and so he has been framed. c. Sanyal: In his defence,Sanyal says he was first framed in a false case in Andhra Pradesh and when he got bail,another false case was framed in Dantewada,and when no evidence was found against him in that case,the present case has been slapped on him. The police threatened him in jail and dictated a letter to build this case and they want to keep him in jail by falsely terming him a Naxal. He does not know Guha,and hence the question of sending him a letter does not arise. EXAMINATION 9. The prosecution presented 97 witnesses to prove the charge. Dr Binayak produced 11 witnesses in his defence. Accused Sanyal and Guha did not produce any witness in their defence. POSERS 10. The questions to be considered are: (1) Whether on or before 6 May 2007 the accused on Railway Station Road,Raipur,or in Central Jail,Raipur,or in Central Jail,Bilaspur,or in Katora Talab,Raipur,or in Hotel Mahendra or in Hotel Geetanjali waged war or attempted to wage war or conspired to wage war against the Government of India or the state government through Naxal literature,periodicals,letters,newspapers,CDs,a CPU and similar written and visual matter,encouraging and executing terror and Naxal acts and other destructive activities? (2) Did the accused on the date,place and time mentioned above commit sedition by inciting or attempting to incite hatred,contempt or disaffection against a government established by law in India,through Naxal literature,periodicals,letters,newspapers,CDs,CPU,and sources/signs encouraging and executing terror and Naxal acts and other destructive activities? Or Did the accused on the date,place and time mentioned above commit a conspiracy to commit sedition by inciting or attempting to incite hatred,contempt or disaffection against a government established by law in India,through Naxal literature,periodicals,letters,newspapers,CDs,CPU,and sources/signs encouraging and executing terror and Naxal acts and other destructive activities? (3) Did the accused on the date,place and time mentioned above,through Naxal literature,periodicals,letters,newspapers,CDs,CPU,and sources/signs encouraging and executing terror and Naxal acts and other destructive activities,participate in activities or meetings of any unlawful organisation or receive or make any obligation or seek an obligation? Or Did the accused from the date,place and time mention above,through Naxal literature,periodicals,letters,newspapers,CDs,CPU,and sources/signs encouraging and executing terror and Naxal acts and other destructive activities,participate in activities or meetings of any unlawful organisation or conspire to receive or make any obligation or seek an obligation? (8) Were the accused members of a terrorist group or organisation involved in terrorist activities at the given date,time and place? (9) Did the accused at the given date,time, place deliberately possess such property that was obtained or received from terrorist acts or earned through a terrorist fund? (10) Did the accused on the given date,time,place commit an offence related to the membership of a terrorist group? (11) Did the accused on the given date,time, place commit an offence related to giving support to a terrorist group? TESTIMONY 15. Prosecution witness 1 Anil Kumar Singh says he was going to the railway station (on 6 May 2007) when policemen stopped him a short distance from Samrat Talkies,showed him accused Piyush Guha and asked him to wait as they needed to search this suspicious man. The accused had a blue-black bag. There was another person present as witness (Rajesh Gupta),whom he (Singh) did not know. The police asked him to open the bag,which had three magazines,three letters and two Bengali newspapers. Of the three letters,two were in English and the other in Bengali. The bag contained wads of notes,a cellphone and a rail ticket to Kolkata. Then the police asked Piyush Guha to go with them to the police station. when asked about the letters in the police station,the accused Piyush Guha said Sen met Sanyal in jail,where Sanyal gave Sen the letters and asked him to deliver these in Kolkata. CHALLENGE & DISMISSAL 16. The counsels for Sen,Guha and Sanyal have objected to the consideration of the witnesss statement as evidence on the ground that a statement made by the accused before the police is not admissible as evidence,and the naming of Sen by Guha before the witness is not admissible as evidence either. But the witness Anil Kumar Singh is the witness on the japti patrak (recovery document) and not on a memorandum,and his testimony regarding the facts and circumstances of the time of recovery is admissible as evidence under the Indian Evidence Act,1872,by virtue of its being linked with the behaviour and appearance of the accused. Therefore,the above objection is rejected as being baseless and invalid. MORE TESTIMONIES 18. The accused have carefully cross-examined witnesses SHO BS Jagrit and Ravindra Upadhaya,and Anil Kumar Singh,but their statements regarding the recovery have remained irrefutable during cross-examination. 23. According to the prosecution,Guha visited Raipur and stayed in different hotels. Witness Rajkumar Namdev,the manager of Mahindra Hotel,says Guha stayed in his hotel on 17 April 2007 and 1 May 2007 in room no. 109; these details are mentioned in the hotel register. 24. According to witness Sureshchandra Yadu,he is the owner of Geetanjali Hotel. police have recovered the hotel register that shows Guha checked into the hotel on 22 September 2006 and left on 23 September 2007. The witness also says the accused stayed in his hotel on 12 October 2006,7 December 2006,12 January 2007 and 13 January 2007. 26. Regarding the involvement of Guha in criminal and terrorist activities,witness A R Kunjam has stated that he was posted as jailor in Central Jail,Raipur from 2004 to 2008. Guha received a production warrant to be produced in CJM court,Purulia; this entry is mentioned in the (jail) register. Guha was taken to Purulia on 3 June 2007 for hearing and he returned on 15 September 2007. 27. According to witness Sadhan Kumar Pathak,he was posted as in-charge at Bandwan police station,Purulia,West Bengal,on 4 October 2005. A CRPF camp was being set up in his area,Gudpana. When he visited the spot. he found that landmines had been placed around the camp to destroy it. Investigation suggested that nearly 150 Maoists of Jharkhand,West Bengal and Chhattisgarh had committed the act,for which he registered a case,no. 20 the challan of this offence has been presented in the Purulia court. Besides the other accused,the challan submitted was also against Guha. The statement of this witness has remained irrefutable in his cross-examination. This,hence,proves the involvement of Guha in Naxal and criminal activities. 30. C H Devareddy says he was posted as inspector in Bhadrachalam town,Andhra Pradesh from September 2004 to November 2007. On 3 January 2006,he received a tip-off that a top Maoist activist was moving around the Bhadrachalam bus stand area. accused Narayan Sanyal was found in suspicious circumstances at the bus stand. a bag was recovered from him and it contained a pistol with six bullets,two Motorola walkie-talkies,Rs 13,000 in cash,seven Bengali books,a Hindi book. 15 secret documents of Maoists,a letter,a driving licence in the name of Ajay Chaudhary and issued by Ranchi RTO. that person (Sanyal) told him he is a member of the central committee and politburo of CPI(Maoists). the testimony of the above witness has remained irrefutable in his cross-examination,and he has rejected the claim of the accused that it is false. 32. Witness Vijay Thakur says he was posted as SHO in Konta (Dantewada) from 31 March 2003 to 6 May 2006. He arrested Sanyal for crime 9 (he says) Sanyal was a Naxal criminal,active in Sukma and Konta regions. those who worked in the urban network of Naxals participated in Naxal meetings. Narayan Sanyal,Ramanna,Gopanna,Binayak Sen,Rajendra Sanyal,Pradeep Singh were among the participants of these meetings. 35. According to witness Vijay Thakur,Rakesh Kumar Singh and Amita Srivastava would regularly visit Naxals. 36. According to Sher Singh Bande,he was posted as SHO at Chhuriya thana on 6 April 2007. He knows the accused. Naxals are active in Chhuriya area. Meetings of top Naxals leaders like those of the central committee and the state committee are held in the area. Vishnu Milind Tumde,Shankar,Ashok,Parvati,Ganesh,Varsha,Rakesh and Amita are also active there. Binayak Sen and Ilina Sen also attended these meetings. Narayan Sanyal too has been active in Chhuriya area. PUCL members meet Naxals in the area. Amita and Shankar are hardcore Naxals. Sanyal is also a hardcore Naxal. SANYAL BACKGROUND 37. According to sahayak upnirikshak Dhiranand Jha,he visited Giridih (Jharkhand) on the orders of the SP,Raipur,in August 2008 Regarding the 11 November 2005 incident,a case of loot and murder was registered in police station Sadaranchal (Giridih),involving nearly 300 Maoists. Narayan Sanyal was mainly involved in the incident. 38. According to sahayak upnirikshak H C Jadhav,he visited Balarampur (West Bengal) on the orders of the SP,Raipur,on 12 August 2008 and took down the statement of Sadhan Kumar Pathak. nearly 140-150 Maoists blasted a police camp being built in Gudpana with landmines. The name Vijay Da figured in the case. This witness has stated that Narayan Sanyal is also known as Vijay Da. 42. Going through the statements of prosecution witnesses and other documents,accused Sanyal is proved to be a politburo member of CPI (Maoist) and involved in various Naxal and criminal activities. LETTER NETWORK 43. As far as the involvement of Sen in Naxal activities is concerned,witness Anil Kumar Singh has stated that when asked where he received these letters,Guha replied Sen visited Sanyal who gave him the letters. 45. Witness BS Jagrit has stated that when they (a police team) visited A/26,Surya Apartment,Katora Talab,Raipur,residence of Sen,he and his wife Ilina were present a small yellow book special edition of Peoples March of November-December 2004 (16 pages),a letter by Madan Lal Barkade addressed to Comrade Binayak Sen,a three-page Andhra Pradesh Human Rights and Naxalite Group (document) in English a postcard from Sanyal to Sen (were recovered) These seized articles are A-19 to A-38.. a CPU and eight CDs were seized identified as A-38 to A-45. 46. Sen has admitted to the recovery of these articles except A-37 from his residence.. But the above witnesses (policemen present) have rejected his claim,proving that A-37 too was recovered from his residence. 52. The above testimonies of various witnesses (policemen posted in Raipur jail) prove the letter in English recovered from Guha was written by Sanyal,which,according to the prosecution,was given by Sanyal to Sen in jail to be handed over to Guha for delivery in Kolkata. 'RELATIVE' MEETINGS 54. Witness S R Thakur says he was posted as deputy jailor in Central Jail,Raipur,from 24 February 1999 to 28 May 2007 on 22 July 2006,Sen introduced himself as a relative of Sanyal and met him in jail for family discussions the meeting is mentioned in the (jail) register as entry no 24,with signatures of Thakur,Sen and Sanyal. 55. According to S R Thakur,Sen met Sanyal claiming to be a relative on 4 August 2008,12 June 2006,21 December 2006,5 January 2007,12 January 2007,19 February 2007,26 February 2007,14 March 2007,17 March 2007,29 March 2007,9 April 2007,19 April 2007 . during cross-examination,above witness has admitted that Sen did not describe himself as Sanyals relative while applying for a meeting. 57. Witness RK Singh Keshar says he was posted as jailor in Bilaspur jail on 22 January 2007,advocate Sudha Bhardwaj and Sen came to meet Sanyal. entry is mentioned in the (jail) register. Sen claimed him to be Sanyals brother,about which he made an entry that carries his signature. 58. Though the accused have denied meeting (Sanyal) as a relative,the above irrefutable statements of witnesses prove that Sen met Sanyal on various dates mentioned above claiming to be a relative. JOBS & HOUSES 59. Regarding involvement of Sen in Naxal activities,witness Deepak Chaubey says Sanyal was his tenant asked who approached him for the house,witness says Binayak Sen. 60. According to Deepak Choubey,after they published a newspaper advertisement about renting out the house,Sen,Sanyal and Amita Srivastava went to them. Srivastava and Sanyal began living there rent was Rs 1,500 per month. Sen had said Sanyal was his relative. Sen being a respected citizen. (Choubey) rented out the rooms. At that time Srivastava was a teacher in Vivekananda School. Srivastava and Sanyal lived in the house for six-seven months,and when he (Choubey) visited them in January 2006 for rent he came to know from neighbour Sharmaji that Andhra Pradesh police had raided the house,Sanyal had been arrested and Srivastava was absconding. 61. According to witness Manish Daga,he was principal in Jatan Devi Daga Higher Secondary School,Civil Lines. He knows Amita Srivastava because she taught in the school. she did not return after leaving in March 2005. He learnt about her Naxal activities in the newspapers. According to Meena Singh Puri,she is the principal of Vivekananda Higher Secondary School,New Shanti Vihar Nagar. Amita/Anita Srivastava was a teacher. around two years ago and she got the job on the recommendation of Ilina Sen. 62. According to Meena Singh Puri,Ilina Sen introduced Srivastava saying. please employ her. Srivastava is MA (Sociology) from Allahabad University. was speaking good English. was given the job. She worked for seven months,then suddenly stopped coming. She did not submit a resignation Amita had a CD related to WWII Nazi camps that was shown to students,later they came to know that she was linked to Naxals and had absconded. 63. According to witness Arun Kumar Dubey,he was assistant manager in Central Bank of India (main branch,Raipur) from 2004-2007. His home was in Kailashpuri,Raipur. He rented out two rooms to Shankar Singh for Rs 1,500. Shankar and a neighbour said he was a social worker Shankar said his brother is a journalist and sister-in-law a teacher,whose name he mentioned as Amita Srivastava he says Sanyal and Sen used to visit Shankar and Amita. 69. According to Ramswaroop he rented out his Rohinipuram,Raipur,house to Shankar Singh Shankar told him he worked in Rupantar (Ilina's NGO) office,Katora Talab According to Udaychand Jain,he was posted as an officer in Corporation Bank,Rajbandha Maidan,Raipur on 3 November 2003,Shankar Singh opened an account and Ilina Sen signed as his introducer. 70. The statements of these witnesses prove that Binayak Sen and Ilina Sen have links with hardcore Naxals Amita Srivastava and Shankar Singh. On the basis of their contacts and support,hardcore Naxals Amita and Shankar managed to open bank accounts,get jobs and rented homes. A CONNECTION 82. A call was made from 9433140118 to 9893224291 (Sen's number) on 3 February 2007 the number 9433140118 is that of Bula Sanyal (wife of Narayan Sanyas elder brother) in Kolkata. This proves Sen's family was in contact with Sanyal's family . Sen has admitted to speaking to Bula Sanyal on phone. NETWORK 84. According to witness K R Pisda,he was collector in Dantewada the Naxal problem is persisting in the area for 30 years Naxal terror increased to the extent that local people found it difficult to survive. Because of these reasons,in June 2005 the Salwa Judum operation against Naxals was launched. 90. According to B S Jagrit,the network of CPI (Maoists) operates in two divisions,urban and rural. The Naxals in urban networking provide support to rural areas by supplying arms,medicines and material for propagation. The accused present in the court are involved in urban networking The cache of arms seized from Raipur and Durga saw the arrest of K S Priya alias Malati alias Shanti alias Premkumari,wife of Gudsa Unsedi alias Vijay,and Praful Jha. They are hardcore Naxals. Their names are mentioned in the CPU seized from Sens home on 19 May 2007. 91. According to B S Jagrit,Rupantar is a Naxal organisation in Raipur run by Binayak and Ilina Sen Shankar Singh,Amita Srivastava,Boppana,Madan Barkade,Somey Sen (wife of Naxal Tusharkant Bhattacharya arrested from Patna) have links with the accused present in the court,and their names are in the DVD obtained from the CPU of accused Sen. SEIZURES 92. Prabhat Patrika recovered from Guha (articles of this Patrika) opposes the arrest of Sanyal and praises those killed in encounters,calling them martyrs (another magazine) describes Dandkaranya as Hamara Dandkaranya and a plan for a peoples war to free the area. This magazine also says Peoples Guerilla Army ne CRPF ki nind uda di and takes the responsibility for an attack on (Andhra) CM N Chandrababu Naidu. 94. Article A-8,a letter to Dear friend P,and Article A-9,a letter to Dear Friend V A-8 mentions a plan for an International Penetration Organisation and the ascent of Maoists to Nepal Parliament. 96. Article A-37 (letter recovered from Sens home) mentions it was sent to him by Chhattisgarh State Committee CPI(Maoist) condemning Salwa Judum and murders of Maoists Bhima Koda and Shyam Bihari . (Book number 2) mentions Ilina Sen as life member of CLSL,defence witness Ajay TG and hardcore Naxal Shankar Singh are also members and Binayak Sen is general secretary. 97. (Another book) mentions the name of Yasin Malik and Gulam Rasuldhar of JKLF as members of Marxist Coordination Committee . termed hardcore Naxal by prosecution. Amita Srivasatva,now absconding,is also mentioned hardcore Naxal Shankar Singh is mentioned as employee of Rupantar. 102. Counsel for Binayak Sen contends he was arrested on 14 May 2007,whereas on this date CPI (Maoist) was not declared an unlawful organization,declared so in 2009,and hence the charges under Sections 8 (1),(2),(3),(6) of Chhattisgarh Special Public Safety Act 2005 do not apply. This contention does not hold ground. Chhattisgarh government on 12 April 2007 declared CPI (Maoist) and sister organisations unlawful for a year. 105. Binayak Sen says the recovered documents do not mention article A-37 and the article doesnt carry his signature,hence the article was set up by the police to implicate him. 107. According to defence witness Mahesh Mahobe,he videographed the police (raid and) seizure at Sens home. The police carried the seized CDs,cassettes and documents in a bag in open condition.. BS Jagrit and BBS Rajput submitted during cross-examination that as A-37 possibly got stuck to some other article,it couldnt have the signatures of Sen. These witnesses further say the seized articles were produced in sealed condition which proves that A-19 to A-37 seized from Sens home were presented. and the accused was given a copy only after the seal was broken in court. 112. Contention of the accused that they did not know each other.. we have already seen (the transaction of letters among Sanyal,Sen and Guha) .which proves unity of mind and the fact of entering into a criminal conspiracy to commit sedition. VERDICT 115. On the basis of above discussions,accused Binayak Sen,Narayan Sanyal and Piyush Guha are held guilty of . promoting Naxal and terror activities committing the conspiracy to commit sedition participating in activities and meetings of unlawful organization CPI (Maoist) .managing unlawful organisations,helping in such management. 117. Therefore,accused. are held guilty under Sections 124 (A) and 120 (B) of IPC; Sections 8(1),(2),(3),(5) of Chhattisgarh Special Public Safety Act 2005; Section 39 (2) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967; and Sanyal under Section 20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
