Senior advocate and BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party) leader Ram Jethmalani and senior congress leader Digvijay Singhhas have offered to defend activist medical doctor Binayak Sen who was recently convicted of sedition against the Chhattisgarh state and sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court there.

Jethmalani’s offer to challenge Sen’s conviction for his alleged support of insurgent Maoist groups in the state follows a two-year old court case initiated against him by the state authorities. A trial court at Raipur last Friday held Sen guilty of colluding with the Maoist after his arrest in 2007.

According to media reports, Jethmalani’s open endorsement of Sen is contrary to his political party’s stance on the issue with the BJP as the ruling party in the state of Chhattisgarh being responsible for the prosecution.

Jethmalani told the media that there existed no conflict of interest in his offering to defend Sen. “No party line says that lawyers should not appear for some people,” Jethmalani was quoted in the Hindu.

“Binayak Sen is not a traitor, I don't think whatever he has done amounts to sedition. My opinion of him is much better than that of the police. My impression is that there is no case against Sen,” Jethmalani told NDTV.

The incarceration of Sen who is also the national vice-president of NGO People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) along with two others - alleged Maoist ideologue Narayan Sanyal and Kolkata-based business Piyush Guha - has faced a criticism from the public with political leaders and former judges voicing opinions against the verdict.

The Indian Express reported that the court found Sen guilty because of:

Sen’s meetings with jailed Naxalite leader Narayan Sanyal; his attempt to pass on three letters written by Sanyal to unspecified people in Kolkata; and his helping some “hardcore Naxalites” to open bank accounts, get jobs and rented accommodation.

Also cited as evidence is the recovery from Sen of newspaper clippings on the Naxal movement and a magazine with interviews of Naxal leaders Ganapati and Kishenji. The verdict is silent on which specific Naxal act or conspiracy Sen was involved in.