Raipur:
After spending months in custody on charges of sedition, award winning civil rights activist Dr Binayak Sen walked out of the Raipur jail this evening.
The 61-year-old old doctor, who was sentenced to life by a local court on charges of sedition and links with Maoists, was reunited with his family amid emotional and poignant scenes, as his two daughters - Aparajita and Pranhita - jumped on to him and were locked in a tight embrace.
Sen was also hugged and kissed by his mother Anusuya who said he looked "fine."
Sen has been lodged in the prison since December 24 when he was convicted and sentenced to life.
Clad in his trademark kurta-pyjama, Sen smiled and waved to hundreds of his supporters who had gathered in front of the prison where hordes of newsmen and photographers jostled with each other to get a vantage point. Chaos prevailed with his supporters and mediamen trying to get close to him.
The Chhattisgarh court has asked Binayak to appear for all hearings; he cannot leave the county and has been asked to deposit his passport with the authorities.
He was released on Rs 50,000 bail bond and Rs 50,000 personal bond.
Addressing his first press conference after being released, Dr Sen said he was happy to be out of jail. Dr Sen denied he was a naxal sympathiser and said he was against violence. (
Watch)
"I will continue my work in Chhattisgarh and outside Chhattisgarh, and will continue to work for human rights," said Dr Sen.
Dr Sen said the charges of sedition levelled against him by the Chattisgarh government are "misplaced."
"I know in my heart that I have never betrayed the people of my country," he said.
Sen's release came after the Supreme Court granted him bail last week, striking down charges of sedition levelled against him by the Chhattisgarh government. (
Read: No sedition; bail for Binayak, says Supreme Court)
He had been accused of colluding with Naxalites and sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition.
(Read: Who is Binayak Sen?)The court had observed that there was no evidence against Sen and that no case of sedition was made out. At best, it said, he could be called a sympathizer but nothing beyond that. It left it to the satisfaction of the trial court concerned to impose conditions for his release on bail.
(Foreign Media on Binayak Sen)Sen, who is a vice-president of the People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), was accused of colluding with Naxals to establish a network to fight the state. He was charged with sedition and was convicted and sentenced along with Naxal ideologue Narayan Sanyal and Kolkata businessman Piyush Guha, to life imprisonment by a Chhattisgarh trial court.
The Chhattisgarh High Court had rejected his bail plea on February 10 and the 61-year-old had challenged that order in the Supreme Court.
(
With PTI Inputs)