Allahabad HC grants bail to ‘Naxal’ couple

A division bench led by Justice Dharni Dhar Jha granted bail to the couple after considering the arguments from both the sides. Senior advocate Ravi Kiran Jain,counsel for the couple,said: “The court granted bail after we contended that there was no evidence against the two. We had already filed our appeal challenging the district court order. The bail plea was part of the appeal in which it was prayed that till the pendency of the appeal the petitioners be granted bail.”

The defence counsel further told the court that there was no evidence against the petitioner apart from the so-called Maoist literature recovered from their possession. It was contended that mere possession of such documents does not amount to waging war against the state.

Government counsel Avdhesh Narain Mulla contended that the police had ample evidence against the petitioners and further added that other functionaries of the CPI(M) were arrested at their instance.

Following the order,the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) welcomed the decision. “We are grateful to the judiciary for granting bail to Seema and her husband. We realise that they have not yet been acquitted,but we have full faith in judiciary. We would be taking up the issue of them being implicated by the officials of the Special Task Force (STF) and the Allahabad police in a false case,” said Chitranjan Singh,national secretary and State president of PUCL.

Seema and Vishwavijay were arrested on February 6,2010,by the Khuldabad police at Allahabad railway station. They were arrested following information from the STF that the CPI(M) was trying to increase its presence in Uttar Pradesh and the couple were active in Allahabad in this connection.

The police had recovered certain documents and Maoist literature from the accused. The couple also used to run a journal – Dastak – taking up human rights and other such issues.

On June 8,Additional District Judge Sunil Kumar had sentenced them to life imprisonment besides imposing a fine. The couple had been convicted under Sections 13,18,20,38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section 121 of the Indian Penal Code,which pertained to conspiring for waging internal war against the state.