Final Statement of Binayak Sen

Final Statement of Binayak Sen 


I am a trained medical doctor with a specialization in child health. I
completed my MBBS from the Christian Medical College, Vellore in 1972, and
completed studies leading to the award of the degree of MD (Paediatrics) of
the Madras University, from the same institution in 1976. After this, I
joined the faculty of the Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health at
the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi and worked there for two years,
before leaving to join a field based health programme at the Friends Rural
Centre, Rasulia in Hoshangabad, MP. During the two years I worked there, I
worked intensively in the diagnosis and treatment of Tuberculosis and
understood many of the social and economic causes of disease. I was also
strongly influenced by the work of Marjorie Sykes, the biographer of Mahatma
Gandhi, who lived at the Rasulia centre at that time.

I came to Chhattisgarh in 1981 and worked upto 1987 at Dalli Rajhara
(district Durg), where, along with the late Shri Shankar Guha Niyogi and the
workers of the Chhattisgarh Mines Shramik Sangh, I helped to establish the
Shaheed Hospital, that continues to practice low cost and rational medicine
for the adivasis and working people of the surrounding areas upto the
present. After leaving Dalli Rajhara, I worked to develop a health programme
among the Adivasi population in and around village Bagrumnala, which today
is in Dhamtari district. This work depended on a large group of village
based health workers who were trained and guided by me. When the new state
of Chhattisgarh was formed, I was appointed a member of the advisory group
on Health Care Sector reforms, and helped to develop the Mitanin programme,
which in turn, became the role model for the ASHA of the National Rural
Health Mission. A copy of the Order of the Department of Health and Family
Welfare of the Govt. of Chhattisgarh regarding my nomination to the advisory
group mentioned above is attached. (Annexure 1.)


My work in the area of community health, as well as my work on Human Rights
which is detailed below, has been nationally and internationally recognized.
I have been awarded the Paul Harrison Award by the CMC Vellore in 2004; the
RR Keithan Gold medal by the Indian Academy of Social Sciences in 2007; and
have received the Jonathan Mann award for Health and Human rights from the
Global Health Council in 2008. I am attaching notarized copies of the
citations of these awards with this statement, and am carrying the originals
for the perusal of the court. (Annexures 2, 3, 4 and 5)

I have been a member of the Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) since
1981. The PUCL is an organization devoted to the preservation of
constitutional civil liberties and human rights that was founded by the late
Shri Jayprakash Narayan during the years of the Emergency. In Chhattisgarh,
as well as in many other parts of the country, the PUCL led the campaign for
the preservation of the freedom of speech, prevention of custodial violence,
and for the public accountability of the police. I became General Secretary
of the Chhattisgarh unit of the PUCL in 2004, and am currently the President
of the State unit, and Vice President of its National body.

In Chhattisgarh, the PUCL has been in the forefront of exposing the
atrocities of the police. Atrocities by men in uniform against vulnerable
sections continue to be a serious problem in the state, as the front page
news item in the “Sunday Times” dated 12th September 2010, annexed hereto as
Annexure 6 shows. In this situation PUCL’s efforts were always directed
towards the establishment of good governance and constitutional values. PUCL
findings and investigations were always made available in the public domain
through press releases and its own publications. One such Press Release
reporting investigation into police atrocities in Village Jiramtarai, Thana
Koylibeda is annexed hereto as Annexure 7. The report of one such
investigation pertaining to police atrocities in Katgaon (Kanker district)
was published in the “Navbharat” and “Deshbandhu” newspapers which are
annexed hereto as Annexure 8 and 9 respectively. A PUCL publication on the
State of Human Rights in Chhattisgarh is appended to this statement.
(Annexure 10). In this connection PUCL regularly corresponded with the
National and State Human Rights Commissions. Copies of some of the letters
sent to the PUCL by the National Human Rights Commission (collectively) and
the State Human Rights Commission are attached to this statement. (Annexure
11 and 12)


Apart from investigating and documenting many cases of Human Rights abuse
involving the police, the PUCL has acted as a whistleblower in the matter of
exposing the true nature of the Salwa Judum. The Salwa Judum, which began in
the Dantewada district in 2005, has been represented by the state government
as a spontaneous peoples’ movement against the Maoists active in the area.
However, an investigation led by the PUCL and involving several other Human
Rights organizations revealed that it was in reality a state sponsored and
state funded as well as completely unaccountable vigilante force, to which
arms were provided by the government. The activities of the Salwa Judum have
led to the emptying of more than 600 villages, and the forced displacement
of over 60,000 people. Concerns regarding the activities of the Salwa Judum
have been expressed by several independent organizations including the
National Human Rights Commission. International organizations like the
UNICEF have also voiced serious concern and have invited me to dialogue with
them about the restoration of normalcy in the region affected by Salwa
Judum. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has also, on several occasions, expressed
its grave concern over the activities of the Salwa Judum and the deployment
of armed vigilantes for the promotion of state policy. This has been widely
reported in the press. A Table with an indicative list of agencies that have
made critical observations on the Salwa Judum is attached (Annexure 13). A
copy of the report on the Salwa Judum by the Chhattisgarh PUCL and other
organizations (Annexure 14), and copies of the investigation reports on the
Salwa Judum brought out by the Independent Citizens Initiative and Asian
Centre for Human Rights are being filed along with this statement (Annexure
15 and 16 respectively). An invitation from the UNICEF, Chhattisgarh
Regional Office to participate in a dialogue to seek a resolution to the
crisis in Dantewada as a fallout of the Salwa Judum is similarly attached to
my statement (Annexure 17).Press reports in the Hitavada, dated 23.10.2010
pertaining to the Hon. Supreme Court’s critical observations are attached
(Annexure no 29), as are Certified copies of Supreme Court orders that make
critical observations on the Salwa Judum are also being attached (Annexure
18)

The PUCL has also, during 2006, organized two major conventions, opposing
the proposal to enact the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, because
it has been, and continues to be, our view that this Act contravenes the
civil liberties assured to us in the constitution. I have expressed these
views in the Press as well, and am attaching with this submission a copy of
newspaper carrying a press report of such a convention (Annexure 19), as
well as a copy of the newspaper “Chhattisgarh” dated 30th March 2006 in
which my interview appears in this regard. (Annexure 20) A Civil Writ
Petition (Writ Petition No 2163/2009) challenging the vires of the
Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act has been filed by the PUCL in the
Chhattisgarh High Court. Certified copies of the Court orders admitting this
petition and issuing notice are being filed along with this statement
(Annexure 21).

For all the reasons mentioned above, the Chhattisgarh police and the state
government have harboured a grudge against me, and the then DGP of
Chhattisgarh, Mr OP Rathore, has gone on record threatening to take action
against the PUCL and its office bearers. Copies of a newspaper of 3rd
January 2006 carrying a report to this effect are attached to my statement.
(Annexure 22) I have been concerned with the rights of prisoners in my
capacity as a Human Rights worker and was approached by the family of Mr
Narayan Sanyal to look after his health and well being after he was brought
to Raipur jail in 2006. My first visit to him in jail was in the company of
his family and lawyer. Subsequently, I obtained permission from the police
authorities for visiting him in jail, and visited him several times, each
time applying to do so in my capacity as a PUCL office bearer. After my
visits, I informed his family members about his condition over the
telephone. During the course of these visits, it was brought to my notice
that the surgery on his hands that was necessary for medical purposes, was
being delayed due to communication problems between the jail and the doctors
in the Raipur Medical College. I played a role in facilitating his surgery
and kept his family informed about the process. During this period there was
considerable correspondence between the prisoner’s family, jail
administration and medical authorities, of which copies were marked to me. I
attach along with this statement copies of the letter written by Mr Radha
Madhav Sanyal (brother of Narayan Sanyal) to the Jail Superintendent with a
copy to me (Annexure 23); copies of my applications to visit Mr Narayan
Sanyal in jail which were obtained through an application under the RTI
(Annexure 24); copy of the written permission given to me by Shri BS Maravi,
Senior Superintendent of Police, Raipur (Annexure 25) and copies of the
correspondence from the Jail authorities to the medical doctors mentioned
above with copies marked to me (Annexure 26).

It was with similar concern for the situation of prisoners that I acted upon
the letter received in the post from one Madanlal Barkhade about prison
conditions in the Raipur Central Jail. I released his letter to the press in
Raipur and attach the newspaper in which the aforesaid letter was published.
(Annexure 27) The documents seized from my house during the house search on
19.5.2007 were those of concern to me in the ordinary and transparent
conduct of my work. Human rights organizations from all over the country
used to send me books, pamphlets and documents, and there were thousands of
these lying in my residence, which I also used as my office.


None of the seized documents had been secretly or clandestinely obtained.
Document No. A
19 was sent to me by post by Shri Govindan Kutty, Editor, Peoples’ March.
Document no A 20, purported to be written by Madanlal Barkhade was similarly
received by me in the regular post. The document A 21 was sent to me by Dr
Kalpana Kannabiran, one of the authors of the article, then Professor at the
National Law School Hyderabad, by e-mail. Article A 22, photocopy of a hand
written document, and Articles A 23 and A 36 were available for distribution
at a seminar on the Salwa Judum organized by the Nelson Mandela Centre for
Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi in January,
2007, to which I was invited , and were picked up by me there. Article A 24
was received by me in the post. Newspaper clippings A 25 to A 35 are
newspaper clippings that I had maintained in furtherance of my interest in
the emerging situation in Chhattisgarh.


Several policemen in the search party were involved in the process of the
search at my house. Having found a document, the person finding it would
hand it over to Mr Rajput. Mr Rajput would first read it, and then hand it
over to me for my signature. He would also sign it himself. After we had
both put our signatures on the document, he would dictate to TI Jagrit what
was to be written in the seizure memo. Mr Jagrit would then make the entry,
following which Mr Rajput would then hand over the document to Mr Jagrit. In
this manner, each document was seized, signed, and entered in the seizure
memo. None of the documents were signed by the public witnesses in my
presence. Nor were the documents sealed in my presence. At the end of the
search process the documents were carried away in a paper bag in an unsealed
condition. Document A37 was never received by me to sign. It was not in my
office, and was not seized during the search. It was fabricated after the
search by the police to implicate me falsely. When the challan in my case
was filed, my advocate, Mr Amit Banerjee was present in court and received
the chargesheet on my behalf. A copy of the chargesheet is annexed hereto as
Annexure 28. Upon going through the charegesheet, we noticed that in the
copies of articles A 19 to A 24, the signatures of the panch witnesses were
not present in the documents. Copies of articles A 25 to A 37 were not
supplied to us at the time. Despite a court order, the contents of the
computer were copied onto DVDs without the presence of my advocate, and only
DVDs of selected material from the computer were supplied later during the
course of the trial. Out of the DVDs supplied, three relate to investigation
of police atrocities / fake encounters in Golapally, Jiramtarai and Katgaon.
My images on these tapes are in conversation with the villagers who are
affected by these atrocities. I have never seen Deepak Chaubey (PW7) until
the time he testified in the court. I did not introduce Narayan Sanyal to
him and his story that Narayan Sanyal was arrested from his house is
patently untrue as, in fact, Sanyal was arrested in Bhadrachalam.
I submit that my prosecution is malafide; in fact it is a persecution. I am
being made an example of by the state government of Chhattisgarh as a
warning to others not to expose the patent trampling of human rights taking
place in the state. Documents have been fabricated by the police and false
witnesses introduced in order to falsely implicate me.


Binayak Sen

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