Civil rights activist Dr Binayak Sen, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition by a Raipur court on December 24, is likely to be released on bail on Monday, his counsel said.
Mr Sen, who was granted bail by Supreme Court on Friday, is currently lodged in Raipur Central jail following his conviction by the district and sessions court here on December 24.
“The certified copy of the bail order by the apex court would be submitted before the trial court here on Monday, since Saturday was a public holiday here. He is most likely to be released on bail the same day after fulfilling the bail conditions to be set by the trial court,” Mr Sen’s lawyer, Mr Mahendra Dubey said.
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Orissa Cong chief: CM is a traitor
age correspondent
Sambalpur, Orissa
April 17: Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee president K.P. Singhdeo on Sunday dubbed Orissa chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik a “traitor” and said Mr Patnaik had conspired to compromise with the national security by handing over the thorium-rich lands near Puri to a private company for setting up an educational institute.
Mr Singhdeo said the government’s decision to give thorium-rich eight thousand acres of land to Vedanta University Project at Puri was an attempt to put India’s security at jeopardy and the venture was rightly opposed by the local people.
“As a former Union minister of state for defence and ex-military man, I can say with all authenticity that handing over of eight thousand acres of land in Puri would have been a greatest blunder. We approached the Union government against such an evil design by the ruling BJD and foiled their mischievous plan,” Mr Singhdeo said.
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Rahul claim on graft fight hollow: BJP
New Delhi, April 18: The BJP on Sunday said that Rahul Gandhi’s statement that he was working to improve the system “sounded hollow” as it could not see any action on the ground by the Congress-led government to check corruption.
Reacting to Mr Gandhi’s letter to former Supreme Court judge V.R. Krishna Iyer, the BJP said if the Congress general secretary was so serious about corruption, then he should highlight the steps taken in this direction during his party’s seven-year rule in the country.
“We don’t see action on the ground against corruption.... The claims sound hollow. If he is taking steps than why has corruption not ended,” BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said here. —PTI
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Fears of quake: Tripura governor wants new house
age correspondent
Agartala
April 17: Tripura government is looking for a new house for governor Dnyandeo Yashwantarao Patil as he expressed reluctance to reside in the century old Raj Bhavan that has already been declared as vulnerable to earthquake.
The governor expressed his desire after the earthquake that hit Japan on March 11 as Tripura also falls in Zone V, the sixth most earthquake prone area in the world and has witnessed three quakes during last six months though the intensity was low.
“The governor is keen to shift temporarily to the newly build state guest house but the state government feels it is not befitting and we are looking for another house,” said a topmost state government official.