A European Union delegation on Monday watched the proceedings of the Chhattisgarh High Court hearing the appeal of rights activist Dr Binayak Sen against conviction and life sentence by the trial court on the charges of sedition last month. The eight member delegation,comprising Peter Kimpian (Hungary),Raphael Martian De Lagarde (France) Alexandra Berg von Linde (Sweden),Florian Burkhardt (Germany),Jochen Anthierens (Belgium),Iain Twigg (UK),Louise de Brass (Denmark) and Anne Vaugier-Chatterjee (EU),arrived at the high court around noon. Police sources said the members of the delegation were keen to watch the proceedings of the hearing on Dr Sens appeal. We informed the competent authorities of the high court and with due permission they were allowed inside the court premises,they added. All the foreign delegates were present in the jam-packed court room during the hearing when defence counsel Ram Jethmalani argued the case. A group of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) workers took out a protest demonstration raising slogans against EU delegations observer mission ,describing it as an interference in the functioning of independent judiciary. Besides,they had also raised slogans against BJP Rajya Sabha member Ram Jethmalani for agreeing to defending Dr Binayak Sen,who has been convicted for allegedly acting as a conduit for the Maoists. Earlier reports said the EU delegation in India had sought assistance in facilitating an observer mission to attend the hearing on appeal by Dr Binayak Sen in the high court at Bilaspur. The move had sparked protests from the ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh with its state president Ram Sewak Paikra describing it as an undue interference in the judicial functioning. A group of ABVP workers had showed black flags when the delegation arrived at the Mana airport in Raipur late Sunday night.
