PEOPLE'S UNION FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES CHHATTISGARH Post Box No. 87, Main Post Office, Raipur â€" 492001: Chhattisgarh: India ============ ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= === Press Release: PUCL CHALLENGES THE VIRES OF THE CHHATTISGARH BLACK LAW IN THE SUPREME COURT
Raipur, May 17, 2008: (Saturday) The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has challenged the Constitutional validity of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005 in the Supreme Court of India. The Petition was filed on 14th May, 2008, the day Dr. Binayak Sen, its National Vice-President & State General Secretary of Chhattisgarh PUCL completed one year in prison, having been illegally detained under the provisions of this draconian law. The Petition has been drafted by Former Chief Justice of Delhi, Sri Rajendar Sachar, Senior Advocate Sanjay Parikh and Adv Anita Shenoy. It may be recalled that the PUCL had also challenged the notorious Prevention Of Terrorism Act (POTA), which was later repealed by the Indian Parliament in 2004. It may be mentioned that till date some 43 citizens of Chhattisgarh have been detained under this draconian law, including Dr. Binayak Sen (Medical Doctor), Ajay T G (Film Maker) -- both are members of the PUCL. This draconian law sanctions the violation of due process by the state, and thus contravenes internationally accepted norms of jurisprudence as well as democratic governance. As Senior Advocate K G Kannabiran, National President of PUCL, India, argues in his letter to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the CSPSA and UAPA operate by criminalizing the very performance of civil liberties activities, and culpability is decided upon not by direct proof, but through guilt by association. According to the information collected by the PUCL, some 43 persons/organizatio ns have been implicated under the Black Law of 2005. Out of these persons two are doctors, two are journalists/ media persons and one lawyer. The petitioner's have also collected few F.I.R/other documents to point that how the provisions of impugned Act of 2005 have been misused/abused. Among those detained under the Act of 2005 are: a class XII student named Chandrkanti Toppo aged about 22 years from Ambikapur, who has allegedly provided hospitality to the Maoists in her house, from where she lived and studied ; an Electrician named Gupta from Ambikapur, who has allegedly provided technical assistance in electricity to the Maoists; a Doctor from interiors of Rajnandgaon district, whose prescription was said to have been found among the materials seized from the Maoists; a Free-lance journalist named Sri Prafulla Kumar Jha, aged about 63 years, who is a Gold Medalist in Anthropology from the Ravishankar University at Raipur in Chhattisgarh, and has done remarkable work on tribals living in the then Bastar District (now consisting of Dantewara, where the CPI â€" Maoists are said to be active); a writer named Sri Asit Kumar Sen aged about 60 years, who has been long associated with editing and publishing work bringing out magazines and books, from whose house books and magazines in bulk were allegedly seized; two Cloth Merchants named Naresh Khubnanai aged about 40 years, and Ramesh Sudhomal aged 45 years, who have allegedly sold "camouflage coloured" cloth in bulk for uniform; one Tailor named Dayaram Sahu aged about 50 years, who has allegedly stitched these uniforms; a well renowned Medical Doctor, Binayak Sen, aged about 57 years, who is also the National Vice-President of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and the General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh Unit of PUCL. Dr. Binayak Sen is the first Indian & the first South Asian Doctor to have been given the prestigious Dr. Jonathan Mann Award-2008 for Global Health & Human Rights, established in 1999 to honour Dr. Jonathan Mann by the Global Health Council with membership in 140 countries of 6 continents. Dr. Binayak Sen has also been given the R R Keithan Gold Medal -2007 by the Indian Council of Social Sciences for " a fresh and radical interpretation of Gandhiji's core concerns". A media person, film-maker, Ajay T G, who is also a member of the State Executive Committee of the Chhattisgarh Unit of the People's Union for Civil Liberties, who has allegedly written a letter to a Maoist. As a film maker, Ajay T G has worked on numerous projects as Director, Cameraman, and editor, and is also an accomplished graphic artist. Some of his films have been screened at festivals abroad. Rajendra K Sail President --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
