Chidambaram expresses happiness over SC granting bail to Sen

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Home minister P. Chidambaram on Friday expressed happiness over the Supreme Court decision to grant bail to rights activist Binayak Sen, who had been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for sedition by a Chhattisgarh court.

"I am happy to know that Binayak Sen has got bail from the Supreme Court. I have always believed that if one is not satisfied with a lower court order, one can get reprieve by approaching a higher court," he told reporters while reacting to the apex court order.

After the conviction of Sen on charges of sedition and helping Naxalites to set up a network to fight the state, Chidambaram had said that the judgement may be unsatisfactory for many people but the only way to "correct" it was by filing an appeal.

In its order, the Supreme Court said it was giving no reason for granting bail to 61-year-old Sen and left it to the satisfaction of the trial court concerned to impose the conditions for his release on bail.

A bench comprising justices H.S. Bedi and C.K. Prasad passed the order on the petition moved by Sen challenging the order of Chhattisgarh high court denying him bail.